,  s 


Division 

BV  600  . F6  1923 
Foote,  Henry  Wilder,  1875- 
1964. 

The  minister  and  his  parish 


L 


THE  MINISTER 
AND  HIS  PARISH 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •  BOSTON  •  CHICAGO  •  D AULAS 
ATLANTA  •  SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA.  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


THE  MINISTER 
AND  HIS  PARISH 

A  Discussion  of  Problems  in 
Church  A  dministration 


BY 

HENRY  WILDER  FOOTE,  A.M.,  S.T.B. 


J2eto  got* 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1923 


All  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  Off  AMERICA 


Copyright,  1928, 

By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  printed.  Published  October,  1923. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Company 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


To 

MY  WIFE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/rninisterhisparis00foot_0 


PREFACE 


This  book  is  intended  for  laymen  who  are  engaged  in 
church  administration  as  much  as  it  is  for  ministers,  for 
the  problems  discussed  concern  both  in  almost  equal  degree, 
since  they  involve  a  dual  relationship, — that  of  the  minister 
to  his  parish  and  of  the  parish  to  its  minister.  It  would 
be  as  impossible  to  write  a  book  on  this  subject  for  the 
minister  alone,  or  for  church  trustees  alone,  as  to  write 
a  book  on  physiology  which  should  discuss  the  functions  of 
the  head  without  any  reference  to  the  body,  or  those  of 
the  body  without  any  reference  to  the  head.  In  church 
administration  the  minister  is  the  directing  head,  the 
parish  is  the  functioning  body.  The  book  deals  primarily 
with  this  intimate  relationship  and  its  inherent  duties  and 
obligations. 

It  is  based  in  large  part  upon  a  series  of  lectures  deliv¬ 
ered  to  several  successive  classes  of  theological  students 
at  the  Harvard  Divinity  School,  in  part  also  upon  obser¬ 
vations  made  in  the  course  of  a  rather  unusually  varied 
professional  experience.  Even  in  childhood  I  was  familiar 
with  the  atmosphere  of  parish  life,  for  I  had  the  happi¬ 
ness  to  be  reared  by  parents  who  discharged  with  con¬ 
summate  skill  and  devotion  the  duties  which  fall  to  a 
minister  and  his  wife.  I  have  myself  served  as  minister 
of  two  parish  churches,  one  in  the  South  and  one  in  the 
Middle  West;  as  a  denominational  administrative  officer  in 
a  position  which  brought  before  me  the  practical  problems 
of  churches  in  many  differing  localities;  as  a  teacher  of 
preaching  and  parish  administration  in  a  theological  school 
for  nearly  a  decade;  and  as  the  Junior  Warden, — equiva¬ 
lent  to  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, — of  an  important 
city  church.  I  have,  therefore,  studied  from  several  angles 
the  problems  discussed  in  the  following  pages,  and  am  as 

vii 


\ 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


familiar  with  the  point  of  view  of  the  layman  as  of  the 
minister. 

Nevertheless  I  should  not  have  felt  justified  in  adding 
to  the  world’s  burden  of  books  were  I  acquainted  with  any 
other  volume  dealing  comprehensively  with  the  topics  here¬ 
inafter  discussed.  There  is  a  plethora  of  books  on  preach¬ 
ing,  there  are  many  on  pastoral  care,  but  there  are 
very  few  on  parish  administration  as  it  is  conducted  in 
Protestant  churches.  The  most  widely  known  book  on  the 
subject — “Parish  Problems,”  edited  by  Washington  Glad¬ 
den,  is  more  than  thirty-five  years  old,  and,  while  it  is 
excellent  at  many  points,  it  is  defective  or  out  of  date  at 
others.  DeWitt’s  “Decently  and  in  Order,”  published  in 
1914,  deals  briefly  with  some  of  the  points  considered  in 
this  book,  but  much  of  it  is  applicable  only  to  the  usage  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  There  are  also  three 
recent  English  books  touching  upon  some  parts  of  this 
field,  namely  Rogers’  “Principles  of  Parish  Work,” 
Green’s  “The  Town  Parson,”  and  Keatinge’s  “The  Priest, 
his  Work  and  Character.”  All  these,  however,  deal  with 
conditions  in  Great  Britain ;  the  first  and  second  from  the 
Anglican  point  of  view,  the  third  from  the  Roman  Catholic. 
Keatinge ’s  book  is  particularly  to  be  recommended  to 
Protestants  who  are  interested  in  a  picture  of  the  Roman 
priesthood  at  its  best.  Two  other  notable  books  are  “The 
Administration  of  an  Institutional  Church,”  by  Hodges 
and  Reichert, — a  detailed  account  of  the  administration  of 
St.  George’s  Church,  New  York,  as  developed  under  the 
leadership  of  Dr.  Rainsford,  and  “The  Work  of  a  Great 
Parish,”  edited  by  Garbett,  an  account  of  a  parish  church 
in  Portsea,  England.  Both  these  books  contain  much  of 
value  to  every  minister  and  church  officer,  but  the  former 
is  expensive,  and  the  second  not  easily  accessible,  and  both 
describe  methods  used  in  large,  rich  and  highly  organized 
city  churches  under  conditions  which  are  very  different 
from  those  of  most  parishes. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  with  its  many  centuries  of 
experience,  has  developed  a  highly  elaborated  system  of 
canon  law,  and  is  governed  by  a  hierarchy  empowered  to 


PREFACE 


IX 


deal  promptly  and  efficiently  with  the  problems  of  parish 
and  diocesan  administration.  The  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  this  country,  backed  by  the  traditions  of  the 
Church  of  England,  which  in  turn  drew  heavily  upon  the 
Church  of  Rome,  has  also  its  body  of  canon  law.  These 
highly  organized  branches  of  the  Christian  Church  are, 
therefore,  more  efficiently  administered,  but  also  tend  to 
become  somewhat  rigid  and  inflexible,  and,  of  necessity, 
are  more  autocratic  in  control  than  the  free  churches. 
Most  Protestant  churches,  on  the  other  hand,  are  loosely, 
often  carelessly  administered,  without  an  authoritative 
body  of  canon  law,  but  following  a  more  or  less  recognized 
set  of  traditions  and  customs.  These  free  churches  pay 
with  their  inefficiency  the  usual  price  for  freedom  and 
democracy.  They  are  subject  to  mismanagement,  and  to 
dissensions,  often  over  trivial  matters,  which  in  many  cases 
might  be  avoided  by  foresight  and  an  understanding  of 
very  simple  rules  of  procedure.  The  helplessness  of  many 
parish  committees  is  due  to  lack  of  guidance,  to  ignorance 
as  to  where  to  turn  for  information  and  advice.  Some¬ 
times  their  ministers  are  almost  equally  ignorant  as  to 
their  legal  rights  and  obligations,  and  often  they  have  had 
quite  inadequate  training  in  ways  of  dealing  with  the 
practical  problems  of  parish  administration.  It  is  to  meet 
the  needs  of  these  parishes  and  their  ministers  that  this 
book  is  written,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  help  them  to  avoid 
some  of  the  common  pitfalls  of  church  life. 

There  are  some  parish  problems  upon  which  I  have 
touched  but  lightly.  I  have  not  attempted  any  discussion 
of  the  canon  law,  either  of  the  Roman  Catholic  or  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  churches.  Canon  law  is  a  highly 
specialized  field  about  which  I  know  little,  and  which  does 
not  concern  the  great  majority  of  ministers  or  church 
officers  into  whose  hands  this  book  is  likely  to  come.  I  have 
not  attempted  to  discuss  the  civil  church  law  of  the  several 
states  of  the  American  Union, — also  a  large  and  difficult 
field, — but  have  contented  myself  with  setting  forth  the 
law  as  related  to  the  minister  at  certain  particular  points, 
drawing  most  of  my  information  from  Zollman’s  book, 


X 


PREFACE 


“American  Civil  Church  Law,”  the  only  treatise  on  this 
difficult  subject  which  has  come  under  my  notice,  although 
Hall  and  Brooke’s  “American  Marriage  Laws”  also  deals 
with  one  especial  phase  of  this  subject.  In  matters  of 
church  art  and  architecture  I  have  dealt  only  with  certain 
essential  points  to  be  borne  in  mind,  for  there  is  an  abun¬ 
dant  literature  on  the  subject,  including  many  short 
manuals  on  modern  church  architecture,  for  the  most  part 
thoroughly  bad.  I  have  not  attempted  to  deal  with  prob¬ 
lems  of  Sunday-School  management,  or  with  the  larger 
field  of  religious  education,  or  work  with  young  people, 
both  because  these  matters  properly  come  under  the  head 
of  pastoral  care,  a  subject  outside  the  scope  of  this  book, 
and  because  there  is  already  a  large  body  of  modern  litera¬ 
ture  dealing  with  them.  In  the  same  way  I  have  passed 
over  the  problems  connected  with  the  conduct  of  worship, 
an  important  field  for  the  minister,  but  one  which  would 
require  an  entire  volume  for  any  adequate  discussion. 
This  book  is  definitely  limited  to  the  discussion  of  the  legal, 
financial,  business  and  administrative  problems  of  the 
church. 

In  writing  of  the  technique  of,  and  the  machinery  for 
administering  a  parish,  I  have  not  forgotten  Ezekiel’s  great 
vision  of  the  wheels.  I  am  well  aware  that  machinery 
alone,  no  matter  how  perfect,  cannot  bring  in  the  kingdom 
of  God,  but  that  the  living  spirit  must  be  in  the  wheels  if 
they  are  to  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth  and  made  to  go. 
But  good  organization  and  effective  administration  mean 
lessened  wear  and  tear,  the  minimizing  of  drudgery,  the 
elimination  of  needless  obstacles  and  irritations,  the  freeing 
of  the  spirit  from  a  petty  bondage  that  it  may  aspire  to 
higher  things.  Spirituality  does  not  consist  in  the  neglect 
of  practical  considerations,  but  is  more  certainly  attained 
through  recognition  of  their  rightful  place  as  the  physical 
foundation  of  our  everyday  lives,  and  in  their  due  subor¬ 
dination  as  means  to  the  greater  end.  If  this  book  shall  aid 
ministers  and  parishes  so  to  order  their  temporal  affairs 
as  to  give  a  firmer  foundation  for  the  life  of  the  spirit  it 
will  have  answered  the  purpose  which  it  is  intended  to 
serve. 


PREFACE 


xi 


I  am  indebted  to  the  following  persons  for  suggestive 
criticism  and  advice  in  the  preparation  of  the  book:  Rev. 
S.  A.  Eliot,  D.D.,  and  President  E.  M.  Wilbur,  D.D.,  who 
have  read  the  manuscript;  Romney  Spring,  Esq.,  who  has 
read  the  chapters  involving  legal  questions;  Mr.  W.  B. 
Aldrich,  who  has  read  Chapters  VI,  VII,  and  VIII ;  Dr. 
A.  T.  Davison,  who  has  read  Chapter  XI ;  and,  above  all, 
to  my  wife,  for  constant  encouragement  and  assistance. 

H.  W.  F. 

Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 

June,  1923. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I  The  Call  and  Settlement  of  the  Minister 

The  bond  between  minister  and  parish — Channels  of 
communication  between  churches  and  ministers — The 
candidate  for  a  pulpit — The  church  with  a  vacant  pul¬ 
pit — Courtesy  due  the  visiting  minister — Courtesy  due 
from  the  candidate  to  the  church — Courtesy  of  church 
to  church — Issuing  a  call — The  contract  between 
church  and  minister,  as  stated  supply,  as  assistant  min¬ 
ister,  as  associate  minister,  as  settled  minister — The 
minister’s  tenure  of  office — The  act  of  installation. 

II  The  Rights  and  Duties  of  the  Minister  .... 

The  status  of  the  minister — Canon  law  and  i  1  benefit  of 
clergy  ’  ’ — Exemptions — Solemnization  of  marriages — 
Confidential  communications — Slander  and  libel — Con¬ 
tracts — The  minister’s  duty  to  his  parish — The  rights 
of  the  minister — The  minister’s  relation  to  the  gov¬ 
erning  board  of  his  church. 

III  The  Legal  Organization  of  the  Parish  .... 

State  and  church  in  the  United  States — Types  of 
church  corporations:  the  territorial  parish,  the  corpo¬ 
ration  sole,  the  ‘ 1  trustee  corporation,  ’  ’  the  corpora¬ 
tion  aggregate — The  by-laws  of  the  society — Church 
membership — The  governing  board  of  the  church — The 
church  officers — The  conduct  of  parish  meetings. 

IV  The  Working  Organization  of  the  Parish 

The  church’s  field  of  service — The  minister  as  direct¬ 
ing  head — The  paid  staff — Volunteer  workers — The 
standing  committees — The  educational  work  of  the 
church — The  social  life  of  the  church — Social  service 
— The  parish  as  a  cooperative  enterprise. 

V  The  Parish  Records . 

The  value  of  parish  records — The  records  as  church 
property — The  materials  needed — The  minister’s  per¬ 
sonal  records. 


PAGB 

1 


22 


36 


45 


53 


xm 


XIV 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

VI  The  House  of  Worship . 63 


The  grounds  and  buildings  committee — When  new 
church  buildings  are  planned — Selecting  the  church 
architect — The  church  a  house  of  worship — Styles  of 
architecture — The  Gothic  style — The  Georgian  style — 

Other  architectural  styles — The  church  interior — The 
interior  walls — The  windows — The  organ — The  pulpit 
and  reading-desk — The  communion  table — The  seats 
for  the  ministers — The  pews — The  control  of  gifts 
and  memorials. 

VII  The  Parish-house . 82 

The  value  of  the  parish-house — Its  location — Its  plan 
and  equipment. 

VIII  The  Parsonage . 87 

A  residence  for  the  minister — Its  location — Type  of 
house  required — Furnishing  the  parsonage — Mainte¬ 
nance  of  the  parsonage. 

IX  The  Church  Finances . 93 

Business-like  methods — The  minister’s  responsibility — 
Miscellaneous  sources  of  income:  plate  collections,  the 
church  fair,  renting  the  church  property — The  pro¬ 
prietary  system — The  pew  rental  system — The  sub¬ 
scription,  or  free-pew  system — The  budget — The 
treasurer’s  report — Methods  of  securing  subscriptions 
— Endowment  funds — Insurance — Benevolences. 

X  The  Minister’s  Salary  and  Fees . 110 

The  minister’s  salary — The  theory  of  the  minister’s 
‘  ‘  living  ’  ’ — The  Roman  practice — The  Protestant  prac¬ 
tice — What  is  an  adequate  salary? — The  minister’s 
salary  and  the  church  budget — Professional  fees. 

XI  The  Organist  and  Choir . 123 

The  function  of  music  in  the  church  service — The 
music  committee — The  organist — The  choir — Types  of 
choirs — The  location  of  the  choir — The  robed  choir — 

The  minister’s  relation  to  organist  and  choir. 

XII  Church  Advertising . 135 

Shall  the  church  advertise? — Traditional  ways  of  at¬ 
tracting  attention — The  type  of  appeal — The  church 
year-book  and  calendar — Bulletin  boards — Newspaper 
notices — Advertising  the  minister — The  publicity  com¬ 
mittee — The  advertisement  of  a  loyal  congregation. 


CONTENTS 


xv 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIII  The  Church  and  the  Stranger . 150 


Reception  of  strangers — The  hospitality  committee — 

The  minister  at  the  door — The  obligations  of  the 
visitor. 

XIV  The  Ethics  of  the  Ministerial  Profession  .  .  .  157 

The  moral  standards  of  the  minister — Conduct  unbe¬ 
coming  in  a  minister — Relations  with  other  ministers 
— Relations  between  the  senior  minister  and  his  as¬ 
sistants — Relations  with  predecessors  and  successors 
— Labors  of  love. 

XV  The  Liberty  of  the  Pulpit . 170 

The  right  of  free  speech — The  limits  of  liberty — The 
rights  of  the  congregation — Political  and  social  pro¬ 
grams — The  approach  to  controverted  topics — The  at¬ 
titude  of  the  parish. 


THE  MINISTER 
AND  HIS  PARISH 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS 

PARISH 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER 

The  bond  between  minister  and  parish. 

It  is  the  fashion  in  some  circles  today  to  criticize  a 
phrase  much  used  by  earlier  generations,  “the  sacred  call¬ 
ing  of  the  ministry.”  The  modern  critic  declares  that  the 
ministry  is  no  more  sacred  than  any  other  honorable  occu¬ 
pation,  and  he  is  likely  to  go  on  to  describe  it  in  economic 
terms — the  minister  is  a  “salesman  of  religion,”  whose 
business  it  is  to  stimulate  a  demand  for  his  “goods.”  It 
is,  of  course,  quite  true  that  all  toil  is  hallowed,  “the 
meanest  work  divine,”  if  performed  as  a  service  of  God 
and  in  accordance  with  his  laws.  Nevertheless,  the  work 
of  a  minister  in  his  parish,  when  ideally  conceived  and 
worthily  fulfilled,  must  always  be  marked  by  a  peculiar 
quality  of  devotion  and  intimacy  which  distinguish  it  from 
other  professional  and  commercial  pursuits.  The  lawyer’s 
confidential  relation  to  his  client,  or  the  doctor’s  to  his 
patient,  does,  indeed,  bear  a  certain  resemblance  to  the 
minister ’s  relation  to  his  parishioner,  but  in  either  of  these 
cases  the  relationship  touches  but  a  single  phase  of  the  life 
of  the  individual  served.  The  true  minister,  however, 
enters  into  very  close  personal  relations  with  his  people — 
sharing  their  joys,  comforting  them  in  sorrow,  strengthen¬ 
ing  them  in  disappointment,  failure  and  temptation, 

1 


2 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


interpreting  to  them  the  ways  of  God  and  the  laws  of 
life. 

The  calling  is  sacred  not  because  the  minister  as  such  is 
a  sacrosanct  person,  set  apart  from  the  rest  of  men  by  a 
mystical  rite  and  characterized  by  an  unworldly  holiness, 
but  because  he  deals  with  the  deepest  problems  of  human 
life,  the  most  far-reaching  speculations  of  the  mind,  the 
highest  aspirations  of  the  soul.  To  the  minister  come 
the  young  lovers  to  plight  their  troth  to  one  another;  the 
happy  parents  carrying  the  newborn  life  to  be  received 
into  the  congregation  of  Christ’s  flock;  the  mother  asking 
help  for  her  son  who  is  daily  sinking  deeper  into  evil  ways ; 
the  business  man  puzzled  over  some  problem  of  ethics; 
the  man  burdened  with  the  sin  from  which  he  would  fain 
be  delivered;  the  woman  groping  in  the  night  of  despair. 
The  minister  goes  as  a  reconciler  into  homes  where  a  tragic 
break  is  threatened;  or  with  cheer  and  courage  to  a  bed¬ 
side  of  long-drawn-out  pain;  or  with  the  great  words  of 
consolation  and  peace  to  the  soul  that  is  slipping  off  its 
garment  of  flesh  and  will  see  no  more  an  earthly  dawn. 
He  stands  before  his  people  to  lead  them  in  worship;  to 
help  them  uplift  their  hearts  in  aspiration;  to  put  into 
words  their  deepest  convictions;  to  set  forth  the  way 
which  leads  to  righteousness  and  joy  and  peace.  These 
are  the  sanctities  of  the  ministry.  It  deals  with  souls,  and 
“the  guidance  of  souls  is  the  art  of  arts.”  1 

The  value  of  such  a  service  cannot  be  measured  in 
economic  terms,  nor  paid  for  in  dollars  and  cents.  It  is  not 
given  for  a  price,  but  for  the  love  of  souls.  It  is  on  an 
altogether  different  plane  from  the  service  rendered  to  the 
community  by  the  business  man.  From  a  legal  point  of 
view  the  relationship  between  a  minister  and  his  parish  is, 
indeed,  a  contractual  one,  necessarily  based  upon  a  mutual 
agreement  as  to  service  to  be  rendered  and  compensation 
to  be  received,  as  every  human  relationship  must  be  which 
involves  rights  and  duties  between  man  and  man.  It  in¬ 
evitably  has  an  economic  foundation,  since  the  minister 
has  a  physical  life  to  be  sustained,  and  must  pay,  like 
other  men,  for  the  goods  which  he  consumes.  But  these 
1  Gregory  the  Great — 1 1  Regulse  Pastoralis  Liber, '  ’  Part  I,  Chap.  I. 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER  3 


legal  and  economic  relations,  though  the  inevitable  foun¬ 
dations  of  the  minister’s  work,  are  not  of  its  essence.  Its 
really  valuable  and  significant  aspects  cannot  be  defined 
in  any  contract ;  the  influence  of  a  good  minister  in  the  life 
of  the  community  cannot  be  weighed  in  balances,  nor  paid 
for  at  so  much  per  day.  For  the  relationship  of  a  minister 
to  his  parish  is,  above  all,  a  spiritual  bond,  finding  expres¬ 
sion  through  the  medium  of  the  flesh,  as  every  spiritual 
bond  must  in  this  earthly  life,  but  transcending  the  mate¬ 
rial  basis  which  is  its  necessary  incident. 

Therefore  such  a  relationship  is  not  to  be  entered  into 
lightly  or  unadvisedly,  but  reverently,  discreetly,  soberly 
and  in  the  fear  of  God.  Like  marriage,  it  ought  never  to 
be  regarded  by  either  party  merely  as  an  arrangement  of 
convenience,  nor  as  a  stipulated  service  for  hire.  So  to  mis¬ 
conceive  it  is  to  prostitute  a  spiritual  relationship  by  turn¬ 
ing  it  into  a  business  transaction,  whereas  its  real  purpose 
is  the  advancement  of  ideal  ends  and  the  upbuilding  of 
human  souls  by  a  cooperative  enterprise.  Happiness  in 
marriage,  however,  is  most  certainly  secured  by  a  clear 
recognition  of  mutual  duties  and  obligations,  and  by  a 
thorough  understanding  between  husband  and  wife  as  to 
the  economic  basis  of  their  common  life.  Such  an  under¬ 
standing  promotes  effective  cooperation,  and  removes  petty 
causes  of  friction  and  irritation  which  are  liable  to  develop 
into  sordid  squabbles.  Married  life  is  most  likely  to  be  sus¬ 
tained  on  a  high  moral  and  spiritual  level  when  husband 
and  wife  know  themselves  to  be  equal  partners  in  a  common 
enterprise,  sharing  alike  its  burdens  and  perplexities,  its 
sorrows  and  triumphs.  So  likewise,  the  pastoral  relation¬ 
ship  is  most  likely  to  bear  the  fullest  measure  of  spiritual 
fruit  when  it  is  based  upon  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
rights  and  the  duties  of  both  the  minister  and  the  parish; 
upon  a  full  recognition  of  the  inevitable  economic  basis  of 
their  common  life ;  and  upon  complete  frankness  and 
mutual  confidence.  The  purpose  of  the  discussion  which 
follows  is  to  make  clear  these  underlying  legal  and  economic 
conditions,  which,  when  recognized  and  understood,  give 
a  firm  foundation  upon  which  the  true  work  of  the  church 
can  be  carried  forward. 


4 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  channels  of  communication  between  churches  a/nd 
ministers. 

The  first  problem  to  be  considered  is  that  of  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  communication  between  the  church  seeking  a 
minister  and  a  minister  desiring  a  settlement.  A  pulpit  is 
vacant:  how  shall  the  church  secure  a  suitable  minister? 
A  minister  is  looking  for  a  church  to  serve ;  how  shall  he 
find  a  pulpit  which  he  is  qualified  to  fill?  The  machinery 
for  bringing  the  church  and  the  minister  together  varies 
greatly  in  different  branches  of  the  Christian  Church,  but 
practically  every  denomination  has  some  form  of  organiza¬ 
tion  for  meeting  this  need. 

In  those  churches  in  which  authority  is  most  highly 
centralized  the  bishop  in  charge  of  a  given  diocese  or  dis¬ 
trict  assigns  to  a  vacant  church  such  of  the  available  priests 
or  ministers  as  may  seem  to  him  best  fitted  for  the  position, 
often  without  much  consultation  with  the  congregation  to 
be  served.  That  is  the  autocratic  or  monarchical  method. 
In  the  hands  of  a  wise,  impartial,  spiritually-minded  bishop, 
it  may  secure  for  a  parish  a  minister  better  fitted  to  its 
needs  than  it  could  find  by  independent  action,  but  it  robs 
the  parish  of  initiative ;  diminishes  its  sense  of  respon¬ 
sibility  ;  encourages  the  minister  to  look  primarily  to  his 
ecclesiastical  superior  for  reward  and  promotion;  and,  in 
unwise  or  corrupt  hands,  leads  to  favoritism  and  unjust 
discrimination. 

In  those  denominations,  on  the  other  hand,  in  which  each 
congregation  is  an  autonomous,  self-governing  body,  fed¬ 
erated  with  other  churches  of  the  same  order,  the  congre¬ 
gations  themselves  commonly  select  their  own  ministers. 
Sometimes  such  a  church  may  make  application  to  the 
denominational  organization  which  has  authority  to  rec¬ 
ommend  names  and  to  give  information ;  sometimes  it  may 
deal  directly  with  possible  candidates  of  whom  it  has 
heard.  This  method  involves  the  dangers  as  well  as  the 
advantages  of  independence,  for  it  weakens  the  bond  which 
ought  to  bind  the  individual  church  to  others  of  its  own 
communion,  it  increases  the  risk  that  the  churches  will 
make  their  choice  upon  inadequate  information,  and  it 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER  5 


exposes  them  to  a  greater  danger  of  exploitation  by  un¬ 
worthy  candidates  for  the  ministry.  Nevertheless  this  is 
the  method  of  democracy,  dominant  in  Protestantism  today. 
Even  in  those  Protestant  churches  which  are  episcopally 
organized  there  appears  to  be  a  strong  tendency  towards 
the  practice  of  the  selection  of  a  minister  by  the  local 
parish,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  bishop.  The  prob¬ 
lem,  therefore,  is  that  of  providing  safeguards  against  the 
dangers  and  abuses  of  this  system,  so  that  it  may  be  admin¬ 
istered  with  the  maximum  efficiency. 

The  candidate  for  a  pulpit. 

A  man  who  desires  settlement  as  the  minister  of  a 
church,  whether  he  be  a  theological  student  finishing  his 
course  but  not  yet  ordained,  or  a  man  already  in  the  min¬ 
istry  desiring  to  find  a  new  field  of  service,  must  establish 
connections  with  the  responsible  authorities  of  that  branch 
of  the  Christian  Church  in  which  he  wishes  to  work.  If 
he  be  not  yet  on  the  ministerial  list  of  his  own  communion, 
he  must  first  of  all  fulfill  the  established  requirements  for 
obtaining  recognition  as  a  minister  authorized  to  take 
charge  of  a  pulpit.  The  hospitality  of  the  pulpit  can  be 
offered  only  to  men  who  thus  fulfill  the  prescribed  and 
legitimate  requirements  of  their  own  denomination.  Those 
requirements  are  usually  the  fruit  of  long  experience,  and 
are  intended  to  protect  both  the  churches  and  the  min¬ 
isterial  body  from  the  intrusion  of  men  not  qualified  by 
character  or  training  for  the  office  of  the  ministry,  and 
from  exploitation  by  pulpit  adventurers  and  charlatans. 
Therefore  no  self-respecting  man  will  try  to  take  short 
cuts  into  the  ministry.  The  shepherd  goes  in  by  the  door. 
His  denominational  authorities  rightly  look  with  suspicion 
on  one  who  tries  to  climb  into  the  sheepfold  by  some  other 
way. 

The  candidate  for  a  pulpit,  after  securing  the  necessary 
status  within  his  own  denomination,  should  ask  the  official 
intermediary  to  present  his  name  to  such  churches  with 
vacant  pulpits  as  offer  opportunities  of  service  for  which 
he  is  reasonably  well  fitted.  A  man  thoroughly  trained  and 
of  good  personal  qualifications  may  fail  in  his  ministry 


6 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


over  one  parish,  where  he  does  not  fit,  and  yet  be  thoroughly 
successful  in  another.  The  problem  is  one  of  finding  a 
church  where  his  particular  gifts  and  abilities  may  have 
the  amplest  opportunity  for  expression.  The  candidate 
should  not,  therefore,  necessarily  accept  the  first  call  which 
comes  to  him,  nor  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  be  settled, 
but  should  look  for  the  place  which  needs  him  and  for 
which  he  is  best  adapted.  He  must  not,  of  course,  expect 
perfection,  nor  set  too  high  an  estimate  on  his  own  value, 
but  he  will  do  well  to  refuse  a  call  unless  he  is  reasonably 
convinced  that  he  can  fulfill,  with  a  measurable  degree 
of  satisfaction,  the  obligations  which  he  takes  upon  him¬ 
self. 

The  candidate  must  also  consider  the  type  of  service 
which  he  wishes  to  undertake.  Shall  he  serve  for  a  time 
as  an  assistant  in  a  large  and  well-established  church,  or 
shall  he  seek  the  pulpit  of  a  smaller  church  of  which  he 
shall  have  sole  charge?  There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor 
of  the  young  minister  seeking  service,  for  at  least  a  year 
or  two,  as  an  assistant  in  a  large  and  well-established 
parish,  in  which  he  may  obtain  practical  training  under 
the  guidance  of  an  experienced  minister.  That  is  the  uni¬ 
versal  practice  in  the  Roman  Church,  in  which  the  young 
priest  serves  as  a  curate  for  six  or  eight,  or  even  as  much 
as  a  dozen  or  fourteen  years  before  being  placed  in  charge 
of  a  parish.  It  is  also  a  common  practice  in  the  Church  of 
England  and  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  this 
country,  although  in  those  churches  the  term  of  a  curate’s 
service  is  commonly  not  longer  than  two  or  three  years. 
This  practice  is,  unfortunately,  much  less  common  in 
churches  of  other  Protestant  denominations.  The  candi¬ 
date  who  wishes  a  church  of  his  own  must,  of  course,  expect 
to  begin  with  a  rural  church,  or  one  in  a  small  town  or  in 
a  newer  community  of  our  country.  He  will  do  well  not 
to  settle  in  his  own  home  town,  but  to  go  where  the  people 
have  not  known  him  from  infancy.  The  home  folks  are 
likely  to  regard  him  as  a  boy  long  after  he  has  attained 
maturity,  and  to  ask  the  question  of  the  Nazarenes  of  long 
ago,  “Is  not  this  the  son  of  Joseph,  whose  father  and 
mother  we  know?” 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER  7 


It  is  a  common  practice  for  a  candidate,  who  desires  to 
be  heard  in  a  given  church,  to  ask  his  personal  friends  to 
recommend  him  to  the  church.  This  method  is  free  from 
objection  only  when  judiciously  followed.  Recommenda¬ 
tions,  to  have  any  value,  must  proceed  from  persons  whose 
names  will  carry  some  weight  with  the  church,  and 
should  be  frank  and  accurate  statements  of  the  candidate’s 
qualifications  and  limitations,  rather  than  undiscriminat¬ 
ing  eulogies.  The  candidate  should  take  care  not  to  flood 
the  committee  with  letters  of  recommendation.  Two  or 
three  judicious  letters  may  help  to  secure  the  candidate  a 
hearing,  whereas  a  large  number  of  letters  tends  to  put  the 
committee  on  their  guard  against  the  man  for  whom  his 
friends  seem  to  be  acting  in  concert.  Furthermore,  letters 
of  recommendation  are  always  more  valued  when  they  do 
not  come  unsolicited.  Therefore  the  minister  will  often  do 
wTell  simply  to  ask  the  official  denominational  intermediary, 
in  sending  his  name  to  the  church,  to  add  that  they  can 
secure  information  about  him  by  writing  to  such  and  such 
persons. 

The  practice  of  the  candidate’s  writing  directly  to  the 
church  to  solicit  a  hearing  for  himself  is  very  objection¬ 
able  ;  yet  not  infrequently  when  the  pulpit  of  a  church  be¬ 
comes  vacant,  the  committee  in  charge  will  receive  a  con¬ 
siderable  number  of  personal  letters  from  ministers  asking 
that  they  may  be  heard.  This  practice  is  to  be  condemned 
without  qualification,  and  many  parish  committees  are  wise 
enough  at  once  to  mark  off  their  list  of  candidates  the  min¬ 
isters  from  whom  they  may  receive  any  such  direct 
solicitation. 

The  practice  has  also  arisen  in  recent  times  of  min¬ 
isters  advertising  for  churches  in  the  denominational 
press.  The  practice  is  theoretically  unobjectionable  if 
it  is  done  anonymously,  and  may,  in  rare  instances, 
lead  to  a  happy  settlement,  but  such  an  advertisement 
almost  of  necessity  involves  the  minister  in  a  self- 
laudatory  estimate  of  his  own  value  in  a  form  liable  to 
sound  boastful.  Therefore  the  candidate’s  best  method 
of  approach  ought  normally  to  be  through  the  established 
intermediary. 


8 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  church  with  a  vacant  pulpit. 

It  is  almost  always  a  grave  disadvantage  to  a  church 
to  be  for  any  length  of  time  without  a  pastor.  Therefore, 
as  soon  as  it  is  evident  that  the  pulpit  is  to  be  vacated,  the 
church  should  promptly  appoint  a  Pulpit  Supply  Com¬ 
mittee.  That  committee  should  be  thoroughly  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  various  elements  in  the  church.  In  particular 
those  whose  age  is  under  forty-five  or  fifty  should  be  more 
largely  represented  than  those  above  that  age,  since  upon 
them  will  chiefly  devolve  the  responsibility  for  the  church 
for  the  next  quarter  century.  A  minister  ought  not,  that 
is,  to  be  chosen  primarily  to  please  the  old  people  who  will 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years  pass  from  this  earthly  scene. 
A  thoroughly  representative  committee  will  necessarily  be 
a  rather  large  one.  If  it  include  more  than  ten  or  a  dozen 
persons  it  should  appoint  an  executive  committee,  consist¬ 
ing  of  the  chairman,  secretary  and  one  other,  authorized 
to  conduct  negotiations  without  being  obliged  to  call  the 
whole  committee  together  for  too  frequent  consultation. 

Unless  the  committee  is  already  thoroughly  informed  as 
to  available  possibilities  for  the  vacant  pulpit  it  should  at 
once  get  into  communication  with  the  appropriate  denomi¬ 
national  officer  and  secure  from  him  a  list  of  possible  can¬ 
didates,  with  such  information  about  them  as  can  be 
given.  Generally  the  committee  will  find  itself  with  a 
long  list  of  names  to  be  weeded  out.  All  sorts  of  possible 
and  impossible  candidates  will  be  suggested. 

The  committee  may  proceed  by  one  of  several  methods. 
The  worst  possible  method  is  for  the  committee  to  hear 
“the  candidate  whose  name  is  legion,”  that  is,  to  hear 
through  a  long  succession  of  Sundays  all  the  men  whose 
names  have  been  proposed.  This  method  involves  a  maxi¬ 
mum  amount  of  competition  between  candidates,  odious 
comparisons  between  this  and  that  man,  and  results  in 
confusing  and  often  in  splitting  the  congregation.  A 
better  method  is  to  select  not  more  than  two  or  three  names, 
after  a  careful  study  of  each  candidate’s  character  and 
qualifications,  his  record  of  professional  service  and  his 
preaching  ability. 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER  9 


Most  Protestant  churches  lay  too  much  stress  upon  the 
candidate’s  preaching  ability  and  give  quite  inadequate 
consideration  to  his  training,  experience,  the  quality  of  his 
pastoral  and  administrative  work,  and  the  place  which  he 
has  made  for  himself  in  the  community.  They  forget  that 
the  most  taking  candidate  does  not  necessarily  make  the 
most  satisfactory  minister ;  that  solid  and  durable  qualities 
of  character  are  more  important  than  ability  to  display  all 
one’s  goods  in  the  shop  window.  This  investigation  of 
the  several  candidates  is,  of  course,  the  first  step,  and 
should  be  made  before,  and  not  after,  the  men  under  con¬ 
sideration  are  invited  to  preach.  It  is,  of  course,  a  waste 
of  time  to  consider  men  who  cannot  possibly  be  secured, 
yet  sometimes  a  minister  who  has  given  no  sign  of  wishing 
a  change  may  have  hidden  reasons  for  being  glad  of  an 
opportunity  to  move.  Often  the  denominational  inter¬ 
mediary  can  advise  the  committee  as  to  whether  a  man 
whose  name  they  are  contemplating  is  possibly  within 
their  reach. 

When  the  committee  has  made  up  its  mind  as  to  the 
two  or  three  candidates  of  largest  promise,  who  might  also 
be  willing  to  consider  a  call,  they  should  arrange  to  have 
these  men  heard  by  several  members  of  the  committee,  and 
on  more  than  one  occasion.  It  is  not  fair  to  judge  any 
preacher  on  a  single  hearing.  Every  man  has  an  off  day 
now  and  then — he  may  have  a  bad  cold,  or  be  unusually 
fatigued,  or  on  the  other  hand,  the  committee  may  happen 
to  hear  him  when  he  is  preaching  in  much  better  form  than 
is  usual.  It  is  also  wise  for  the  committee  to  hear  a  man 
in  his  own  pulpit  rather  than  to  have  him  preach  in  the 
church  which  is  considering  him.  If  he  comes  as  a  can¬ 
didate  he  is  inevitably  more  or  less  self-conscious,  and  the 
congregation  itself  is  in  a  critical  mood.  Whenever  prac¬ 
ticable,  therefore,  the  committee  should  send  some  of  its 
members  to  hear  the  possible  candidate  in  his  own  pulpit 
on  at  least  two  Sundays  when  he  is  not  aware  of  their 
presence.  This  method,  of  course,  is  not  possible  where 
the  candidate  lives  at  a  great  distance  from  the  church 
which  desires  to  call  him.  In  that  case  it  will  probably  be 
necessary  to  ask  him  to  come  on,  so  that  he  can  be  heard 


10 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


by  at  least  some  members  of  the  congregation.  He  may 
be  invited  to  preach  in  the  vacant  pulpit  as  an  avowed 
candidate,  but,  when  practicable,  it  is  often  better  to 
arrange  an  exchange  for  him  with  the  minister  of  some 
near-by  church  which  the  committee  can  visit.  The  self- 
consciousness  of  the  candidate  is  thereby  reduced  to  a 
minimum,  his  own  congregation  is  less  likely  to  be  pre¬ 
maturely  upset  by  the  possibility  of  losing  him,  and  the 
church  which  is  considering  him  avoids  the  risk  of  finding 
itself  in  an  equivocal  relation  to  him. 

The  best  method  of  all  is  for  the  committee  to  be  given 
authority  to  select  a  single  candidate,  the  best  available 
man  whom  it  can  find,  to  be  recommended  to  the  church, 
wThich  reserves  only  the  right  of  a  final  vote  to  confirm  or 
reject  the  committee’s  recommendation.  This  means  giving 
large  powers  and  responsibility  to  the  committee,  in  which 
the  parish  must  have  entire  confidence,  but  the  method 
is  the  one  most  likely  to  lead  to  satisfactory  results.  A 
variation  of  this  method — which  may  be  the  only  prac¬ 
ticable  one  in  the  case  of  an  unattached  candidate  under 
consideration  by  a  church  so  located  that  he  must  make  a 
considerable  journey  to  reach  it — is  to  ask  him  to  come 
as  a  supply  for  one,  two  or  three  months,  that  the  can¬ 
didate  and  the  church  may  make  acquaintance,  with  the 
understanding  that  at  the  end  of  the  stated  period  the 
connection  may  be  made  a  permanent  one  if  mutually 
agreeable,  either  party,  however,  being  at  liberty  to  with¬ 
draw  if  a  definite  settlement  seems  undesirable.  Where 
this  method  is  followed  the  church  should  pay  the  candi¬ 
date’s  traveling  expenses  and  its  usual  salary  during  the 
stipulated  period. 

Courtesy  due  the  visiting  minister. 

The  church  which  invites  a  minister  to  occupy  its  puJ- 
pit,  whether  a  candidate  or  a  supply,  is  under  certain 
obligations  of  courtesy  to  him.  It  should  always  send  him 
exact  information  as  to  the  location  of  the  church  and  the 
best  route  to  reach  it ;  the  hour  of  service ;  the  order  of 
worship  and  hymn  book  used,  unless  the  church  uses  some 
standard  denominational  form;  and  where  the  visitor  is 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OP  THE  MINISTER  11 


to  find  entertainment  for  the  night  or  for  necessary  meals. 
If  he  be  a  stranger  and  the  time  of  his  arrival  is  known, 
he  should  be  met  at  the  railroad  station.  The  fee  for  a 
single  Sunday  should  generally  be  one  per  cent  of  the 
annual  salary,  plus  the  visitor’s  expenses  for  travel.  If 
the  church  has  asked  more  than  one  man  to  come  as  candi¬ 
dates  it  should  hear  all  before  voting  to  call  any,  or,  if  it 
comes  to  a  clear  decision  to  call  one,  should  inform  the 
others  and  give  them  the  choice  of  either  canceling  their 
appointments  or  of  filling  them  as  supplies.  The  church 
should  be  careful  not  to  hold  out  false  hopes  of  a  call  by 
complimentary  phrases  leading  several  men  to  imagine  that 
they  are  about  to  be  selected. 

Courtesy  due  from  the  candidate  to  the  church. 

No  minister  should  accept  an  invitation  to  preach  as  an 
avowed  candidate  in  any  church  if  he  knows  in  advance 
that  he  would  not  consider  a  call  thereto.  A  man  may, 
of  course,  sometimes  preach  in  a  vacant  pulpit  to  which  he 
has  been  invited  only  as  a  supply,  and  create  so  favorable 
an  impression  that  he  is  unexpectedly  confronted  with  a 
call.  But,  as  a  general  principle,  a  minister  who  has  no 
intention  of  accepting  a  call  is  as  much  bound  in  honor  not 
to  encourage  one  as  a  high-minded  woman  is  bound  to 
head  off  an  offer  of  marriage  which  she  would  not  consider. 
If  he  be  already  settled  it  is  unprofessional  for  him  to  en¬ 
courage  calls  to  other  pulpits  merely  for  the  sake  of  im¬ 
pressing  his  own  congregation  with  his  value,  or  as  a  means 
of  securing  a  raise  in  his  salary.  After  one  or  two  such 
experiences  his  congregation  is  likely  to  be  rather  glad 
to  let  him  go. 

If  the  candidate,  after  making  an  appointment  to  preach 
in  a  given  church,  receives  a  call  to  another  pulpit  which 
he  intends  to  accept,  he  should  inform  the  church  with 
which  he  has  made  the  preaching  appointment,  giving  it 
the  opportunity  of  either  canceling  the  appointment  or  of 
receiving  him  as  a  supply.  If,  however,  he  has  not  defi¬ 
nitely  decided  to  accept  the  call  in  hand,  he  is  at  liberty  to 
fill  the  appointment  and  take  his  choice  between  two  calls, 
provided  he  is  entirely  frank  with  both  churches  and 


12 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


avoids  any  appearance  of  trying  to  make  them  bid  against 
each  other  for  his  services. 

Courtesy  of  church  to  church. 

A  church  which  has  decided  to  call  a  minister  already 
settled  elsewhere  is  under  obligation  to  deal  fairly  with  its 
sister  church.  A  church  should  not  call  a  minister  who 
has  but  recently  settled  over  another  parish,  unless  it  is 
known  that  the  arrangement  has  proved  unsatisfactory,  but 
should  give  the  parish  already  in  possession  of  the  minister 
a  fair  chance  to  work  out  its  plans  with  him.  A  large  and 
rich  church  should  not  offer  a  minister  a  much  larger 
salary  than  he  is  receiving  on  condition  that  he  come  to 
it  immediately,  but  should  remember  that  the  minister  is 
under  obligations  to  his  present  parish ;  that  often  the 
terms  of  his  settlement  require  him  to  give  three  months’ 
notice ;  and  that  in  any  case  it  is  not  fair  for  him  to  drop 
everything  in  midseason,  but  that  he  must  be  allowed  time 
to  bring  his  pastorate  to  a  dignified  conclusion.  That  will 
also  allow  the  church  from  which  he  is  resigning  time  to 
adjust  itself  and  to  make  plans  for  calling  another  minister. 
Finally,  no  church  should  call  a  man  from  another  pulpit 
without  giving  the  church  over  which  he  is  already  settled 
full  opportunity  to  retain  him  in  its  service  if  it  wishes 
to  do  so  and  is  in  position  to  offer  him  satisfactory  con¬ 
siderations.  It  is  not  well  that  a  Christian  church  should 
follow  the  methods  of  the  children  of  Dan  in  their  seduc¬ 
tion  of  the  priest  of  the  house  of  Micah. 

Issuing  a  call. 

When  the  pulpit  committee  has  found  a  candidate  whom 
it  is  prepared  to  recommend  to  the  parish,  it  should  ask  for 
a  conference  with  him.  The  committee  should  not  take  this 
step  unless  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  the  parish  will 
accept  its  recommendation,  nor  should  it  ever  ask  two  men 
to  allow  their  names  to  be  submitted  simultaneously,  in 
competition.  If  the  committee  is  undecided  between  two 
candidates  it  should  first  refer  the  matter  to  the  parish 
and  receive  authority  to  proceed  further  with  one  or  the 
other  man.  The  committee  should  never  require  a  candi- 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OP  THE  MINISTER  13 


date  to  pledge  himself  in  advance  to  accept  a  call  should 
one  be  issued.  It  should  be  content  with  an  assurance 
that  he  will  “ seriously  consider”  a  call,  though,  if  the 
candidate  himself  volunteers  the  statement  that  he  would 
give  “favorable  consideration”  to  a  call,  his  words  may 
be  regarded  as  tantamount  to  an  assurance  that  he  will 
accept  it. 

In  the  conference  or  correspondence  between  the  com¬ 
mittee  and  the  candidate  the  latter  is  entitled  to  full  and 
exact  information  as  to  the  condition  of  the  church  and  the 
character  and  prospects  of  the  community  in  which  it  is 
located.  The  candidate  should  be  informed  as  to  the  actual 
financial  condition  of  the  church;  its  membership  and 
parish  organizations ;  its  buildings  and  equipment ;  its  his¬ 
tory  and  its  prospects.  A  parish  committee  should  never 
conceal  unpleasant  facts  or  discouraging  features  from  the 
candidate,2  though  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  details  of 
old  scandals  or  church  squabbles,  save  as  they  affect  the 
existing  situation.  The  information  should  include  a  state¬ 
ment  as  to  the  salary;  the  parsonage  (if  any)  ;  the  min¬ 
ister’s  annual  vacation;  the  number  and  type  of  paid 
assistants  (stenographer,  parish  worker,  assistant  minister, 
if  any)  ;  and  also  as  to  any  unusual  features  in  the  church’s 
situation  or  plans  for  the  future.  If,  after  due  conference, 
the  candidate  has  given  assurance  of  his  willingness  to 
consider  a  call  upon  the  terms  proposed,  a  meeting  of  the 
persons  legally  composing  the  church  must  be  duly  called, 
and  a  formal  vote  taken  as  to  whether  the  candidate  shall 
be  invited  to  serve  the  church.  It  is  essential  that  the 
state  law  governing  church  corporations  should  be  duly 
observed  in  all  particulars,  as  well  as  the  canon  law,  or 
the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  the  individual  church.  In 

3  A  certain  church  called  a  minister  to  its  pulpit.  He  refused  to 
come  unless  an  indebtedness  of  $10,000  was  paid  off.  The  parish 
committee  sent  him  word  that  the  debt  had  been  taken  care  of, 
whereupon  he  accepted  and  was  duly  installed.  Then  he  discovered 
that  ten  men  in  the  church  had  each  paid  off  at  the  bank  $1,000  of 
the  debt,  themselves  taking  notes  from  the  church,  so  that  the 
church  was  still  in  debt,  though  to  its  own  members  instead  of  to  a 
bank.  It  is  unnecessary  to  point  out  that  the  proceeding  was  a 
thoroughly  dishonorable  deception  of  the  candidate. 


14 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


most  states  the  law  gives  the  power  to  call  or  to  dismiss  a 
minister,  and  to  fix  his  salary,  to  the  voting  members  of 
the  church  alone.  Without  their  vote  no  governing  board 
or  committee  can  legally  engage  him,  nor  can  he  be  in¬ 
stalled  as  settled  minister  of  the  church.  The  call  and  the 
minister’s  acceptance  should  always  be  put  into  writing, 
and  filed  for  reference,  it  being  desirable  that  both  minister 
and  church  should  keep  copies. 

The  contract  between  church  and  minister. 

Any  church  which  engages  a  minister  to  carry  on  its 
work  thereby  assumes  certain  obligations  to  him  which  it 
must  fulfill  so  long  as  the  relationship  between  the  two  par¬ 
ties  endures.  In  the  eye  of  the  law  the  minister  is  a  pro¬ 
fessional  man  employed  to  render  services  the  general  char¬ 
acter  of  which  is  a  matter  of  common  understanding  even 
when  a  detailed  agreement  has  not  been  entered  into.  He 
is  not  an  employee  working  on  wages.  Sometimes  a  church 
speaks  of  “hiring  a  minister” — a  detestable  phrase  which 
should  never  be  used  to  describe  the  pastoral  relationship. 
The  minister  is  not  a  “hireling  of  the  sheep”  but  a  shep¬ 
herd  of  the  flock;  not  a  “hired  man”  on  wages  whose  em¬ 
ployment  may  be  terminated  on  brief  notice,  but  a  profes¬ 
sional  man  in  a  sacred  calling  of  standing  and  dignity.  A 
state  does  not  “hire”  a  governor,  nor  a  city  a  mayor,  nor 
a  university  a  professor.  Neither  should  a  church  debase 
the  ministry  by  attempting  to  “hire”  a  pastor. 

The  terms  under  which  a  minister  serves  a  given  parish 
form  a  legal  contract,  even  when  they  are  informal  in  char¬ 
acter.  Such  informality  is  undesirable,  since  a  “verbal 
understanding”  is  liable  later  to  be  transformed  into  a 
serious  misunderstanding.  Any  arrangement,  therefore, 
by  which  a  minister  is  engaged  to  serve  a  parish,  whether 
as  a  “stated  supply,”  as  an  assistant,  an  associate,  or  as 
the  settled  minister  of  the  church,  should  be  set  down  in 
writing  and  preserved  for  future  reference. 

(a)  As  stated  supply. 

When  the  minister  comes  as  a  stated  supply  the  arrange¬ 
ment  is  usually  for  a  given  number  of  Sundays,  at  the  end 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER  15 


of  which  it  is  automatically  terminated.  If  the  period  is 
not  stated  the  arrangement  may  be  terminated  at  any  time 
by  either  minister  or  parish,  without  breach  of  contract. 
The  service  of  a  stated  supply  is  an  arrangement  not  to  be 
recommended  except  when  the  visiting  minister  is  filling 
a  pulpit  during  the  temporary  absence  of  the  settled  pas¬ 
tor;  or  in  a  church  which  for  one  or  another  reason  is  not 
prepared  promptly  to  settle  a  minister ;  or  when  the  min¬ 
ister  comes  as  a  candidate  but  a  more  intimate  acquaint¬ 
ance  between  him  and  the  parish  is  desirable  before  a  for¬ 
mal  call  be  issued  or  accepted.  It  is  seldom  to  the  best 
interest  of  either  party  that  a  minister  should  serve  a 
parish  as  stated  supply  for  more  than  a  few  weeks  or 
months  at  the  longest.  Either  he  should  be  installed  as 
the  settled  minister  of  the  church,  or  should  give  way  to 
another. 

(b)  As  the  assistant  minister. 

When  the  minister  comes  as  an  assistant  it  is  usually  for 
a  limited  period,  and  to  perform  certain  clearly  defined 
duties  under  the  direction  of  the  minister  of  the  church. 
The  assistant  is  ordinarily  a  young  man,  just  out  of  the 
seminary,  who  expects  to  go  on  to  a  church  of  his  own  in  a 
year  or  two,  though  sometimes,  in  a  large  church,  an  assist¬ 
ant  minister  may  find  a  field  of  service  large  and  interest¬ 
ing  enough  for  his  life  work.  He  should  be  ordained,  but 
he  should  not  be  installed,  since  he  is  not  a  settled  minister 
of  the  parish,  but  strictly  an  assistant  to  the  minister.  If 
the  latter  resigns  or  dies  the  position  of  the  assistant 
is  unchanged,  even  though  his  duties  increase,  both  during 
the  period  when  the  pulpit  is  vacant  and  after  another 
minister  is  settled.  In  order  to  avoid  misunderstandings 
the  terms  of  his  engagement  should  be  clearly  defined  in 
writing — the  period  of  his  service ;  his  salary ;  and  the 
nature  of  his  duties,  which  normally  involve  specified  parts 
of  the  administrative  and  pastoral  work,  and  perhaps 
responsibility  for  the  conduct  of  worship  and  for  preaching 
at  certain  services.  Legally  his  engagement  is  a  contract 
between  him  and  the  parish — not  between  him  and  the 
minister  whom  he  assists — but  that  minister  should  always 


16 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


be  fully  cognizant  of  the  details  of  the  arrangement,  and, 
in  practice,  frequently  acts  as  the  agent  of  the  parish 
in  selecting  the  assistant  and  defining  the  terms  of 
engagement. 

(c)  As  associate  minister. 

The  position  of  an  associate  minister  is  quite  distinct 
from  that  of  an  assistant,  both  legally  and  professionally, 
though  sometimes  parishes  are  ignorant  of  the  distinction, 
and  engage  a  minister  as  an  associate  when  they  mean  to 
secure  only  an  assistant.  An  associate  minister  is  duly 
installed  as  one  of  the  settled  ministers  of  the  church  en¬ 
gaging  him,  a  colleague  of  the  senior  minister,  his  junior 
partner — not  his  assistant.  At  whatever  date  thereafter 
the  senior  minister  resigns  or  dies,  be  it  soon  or  late,  the 
associate  remains  the  minister  of  the  church,  without  any 
further  action  on  his  part  or  that  of  the  parish,  and  is,  by 
both  law  and  custom,  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  that 
position.  The  parish  may  not  install  another  minister  over 
his  head,  or  assign  him  a  colleague  without  his  consent. 
No  church,  therefore,  should  call  an  associate  minister  with¬ 
out  clearly  expecting  him  to  succeed  the  senior  minister  in 
due  time,  and  no  minister  should  accept  such  an  invitation 
without  a  definite  understanding  as  to  his  position.  Gen¬ 
erally  an  associate  minister  is  not  installed  until  the  senior 
minister  approaches  an  age  at  which  he  requires  more  relief 
from  his  duties  than  can  be  secured  by  the  employment  of 
an  assistant.  It  is  wise,  therefore,  to  select  as  associate 
a  man  considerably  younger,  who  may  reasonably  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  serve  for  a  good  many  years  after  his  senior 
colleague  has  disappeared.  Otherwise  the  two  minis¬ 
ters  wrill  grow  old  together  and  the  church  may  find  itself 
under  the  charge  of  two  old  men,  neither  with  sufficient 
vigor  to  carry  on  its  work.  Inasmuch  as  the  relationship 
between  a  minister  and  his  associate  often  involves  rather 
delicate  personal  and  professional  contacts,  it  is  highly  de¬ 
sirable  that  the  terms  of  the  associate’s  settlement  and  the 
duties  expected  of  him  should  be  fully  defined  in  writing. 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER  17 


( d )  As  settled  minister . 

A  great  majority  of  the  churches  of  this  country  have, 
of  course,  neither  assistant  nor  associate  ministers,  but 
are  administered  by  one  settled  pastor.  The  terms  of 
settlement  vary  very  widely  in  different  localities  and 
denominations,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  more  than 
indicate  the  general  principles  which  should  govern  the 
settlement  of  a  minister  in  a  parish.  In  churches  gov¬ 
erned  by  a  recognized  body  of  canon  law  3  the  terms  of 
settlement,  the  duration  of  a  pastorate  and  the  mode  by 
which  it  may  be  terminated  are  determined  by  the  law  of 
the  church.  In  denominations  without  a  formulated  body 
of  canon  law  the  established  customs  of  the  denomination 
prevail. 

The  minister’s  tenure  of  office. 

In  earlier  days  in  New  England  the  minister  was  com¬ 
monly  settled  for  life.  He  did  not  expect  to  move  to  some 
other  parish,  but  looked  forward  to  spending  all  his  days 
with  the  church  over  which  he  was  first  settled,  and  to 
which  he  sometimes  gave  a  bond  as  surety  for  the  due  ful¬ 
fillment  of  his  duties.  Legally  he  had  a  life  tenure  there. 
He  could  be  dismissed  only  if  he  preached  theological  doc¬ 
trines  which  departed  from  the  essential  teachings  of  his 
church ;  or  if  he  were  wilfully  negligent  of  his  duties ;  or 
if  guilty  of  immoral  or  criminal  conduct ;  and,  if  he  chose 
to  fight  the  case,  the  parish  must  prove  its  accusations 
before  an  ecclesiastical  council,  or  in  a  court  of  law.  Until 
his  dismissal  for  cause  took  effect  the  parish  was  under 
obligation  to  pay  his  salary,  and  its  property  could  be 
attached  and  levied  upon  by  law  for  this  purpose.4 

*  ‘ 1  Canon  law  is  the  body  of  laws  and  regulations  made  by  or 
adopted  by  ecclesiastical  authority  for  the  government  of  the 
Christian  organization  and  its  members.  ” — “Cath.  Encye.,  ”  IX, 
56,  2. 

4 1 1  The  settlement  of  a  minister  over  a  Congregational  church  and 
society,  without  any  limitations  as  to  its  continuance  or  any  express 
stipulations  as  to  the  mode  of  its  dissolution,  is  a  contract  for  life, 
determinable  only  in  the  manner  and  for  the  causes  established  by 
law.” — Mass.  Digest,  Vol.  VI,  col.  12789;  (1807)  Avery  v.  Inhab- 


18 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


A  series  of  important  legal  decisions  in  Massachusetts 
courts  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
strongly  supported  the  principle  of  the  minister’s  right  to 
life  tenure  when  no  provision  was  made  in  the  call  for 
some  method  of  dissolving  the  pastoral  relationship.  It 
was  felt  that  security  of  tenure  was  essential  to  the  dignity 
and  effectiveness  of  the  minister ’s  work,  and  that  he  should 
not  be  subject  to  dismissal  for  other  than  grave  and 
weighty  cause.  Perhaps  as  a  result  of  these  decisions  some 
churches  adopted  the  custom  of  inserting  in  the  call  a  pro¬ 
vision  that  the  pastorate  might  be  terminated  after  due 
notice,  if  an  ecclesiastical  council  had  so  recommended. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  many  disputes  were  referred  to  such 
councils,  either  a  mutual  council  called  by  both  parties  or 
an  ex  parte  council  called  by  one  side  only,  which  heard 
evidence  and  offered  recommendations,  but  the  judgment 
of  such  a  council  had  not,  of  course,  the  effect  of  a  legal 

itants  of  Tyringham,  3  Mass.  160,  3  Am.  Dec.  105;  (1812)  Burr  v. 
Inhabitants  of  First  Parish  in  Sandwich,  9  Mass.  277;  (1836)  Shel¬ 
don  v.  Congregational  Parish  in  Easton,  41  Mass.  (24  Pick.)  281, 
286. 

“  Where  a  minister  has  been  settled,  and  always  ready  to  perform 
all  the  duties  growing  out  of  the  relation  so  created,  and  has  per¬ 
formed  such  parochial  duties  as  the  society  wmuld  permit  him  to 
perform,  he  can  recover  his  salary  so  long  as  the  relation  continues.  ’  ’ 
— Mass.  Digest,  Vol.  VI,  col.  12795.  Thompson  v.  Cath.  Cong.  Soc. 
in  Rehoboth,  22  Mass.  (5  Pick.)  469. 

“  Every  Congregational  minister  may  forfeit  his  office  by  certain 
misfeasances  and  non-feasances.  There  are  three  established  causes 
for  forfeiture: — first,  an  essential  change  of  doctrine;  second,  a 
wilful  neglect  of  duty ;  and  third,  immoral  or  criminal  conduct.  ’  ’ — 
Mass.  Digest,  Vol.  VI,  col.  12792.  Sheldon  v.  Congregational  Parish 
in  Easton,  41  Mass.  (24  Pick.)  281. 

1 ‘ A  clergyman,  before  he  assumes  the  high  duties  of  pastor,  is 
bound  fully  and  frankly  to  disclose  his  theological  tenets  and  im¬ 
pliedly  he  undertakes  to  continue  of  the  same  faith  and  teach  the 
same  doctrines.  If  he  changes  these,  he  ceases  to  perform  one  of 
the  conditions  of  his  settlement,  and  entitles  the  parish  to  a  disso¬ 
lution  of  the  contract.  But  it  is  not  every  change  of  opinion  or 
variation  of  belief,  which  will  be  sufficient  to  produce  this  effect. 
It  must  be  a  substantial  and  essential  change,  the  adoption  of  ‘a 
new  system  of  divinity, ’  so  that  the  parishioners  ‘are  obliged  to 
hear  doctrines  wdiich  they  disapprove  and  which  they  do  not  be¬ 
lieve.’  ” — Judge  Morton.  Sheldon  v.  Inhabs.  of  Easton,  21  Pick. 
287. 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER  19 


decision  and  was  not  binding  unless  formally  accepted  by 
both  parties.5  The  calling  of  such  an  ecclesiastical  council 
is  now  rare. 

Many  churches  today  put  into  the  call  a  provision  that 
the  pastorate  may  be  terminated  by  either  the  church  or 
the  minister  on  given  notice — generally  three  months’. 
Some  churches  provide  for  the  annual  election  of  the  min¬ 
ister.  This  arrangement  is  not  to  be  recommended,  for  it 
does  not  sufficiently  safeguard  the  minister,  whose  tenure 
of  office  is  hardly  more  secure  than  if  he  were  a  stated 
supply.  He  is  too  much  at  the  mercy  of  any  dissatisfied 
clique  who  may  take  a  fancy  to  some  other  man.  Nor  is  it 
conducive  to  the  best  interests  of  the  church,  which  is  liable 
to  unsettling  discussions  as  to  whether  the  minister  shall 
or  shall  not  be  asked  to  stay  another  year.  The  provision 
that  three  months’  notice  must  be  given  by  either  party, 
the  settlement  being  otherwise  for  an  indeterminate  period, 
is  ordinarily  the  most  satisfactory  plan. 

Where  the  minister  is  settled  without  any  provision  for 
the  termination  of  the  pastoral  relationship  he  probably 
still  has  a  legal  claim  to  a  life  tenure,  although  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  church  life  have  changed  so  radically  in  the  last 
century  that  it  is  possible  that  the  courts  would  not  now 
require  a  church  to  maintain  a  minister  with  whose  serv¬ 
ices  a  majority  of  the  parish  was  dissatisfied.  The  right 
of  the  minister  to  resign  that  he  may  take  another  charge 
is  now  generally  recognized,  and  this  might  seem  to  involve 
the  right  of  the  congregation  to  invite  the  minister  to  resign 
when  such  action  seems  to  the  best  interests  of  the  church. 
Obviously  it  is  most  unfortunate  to  have  such  an  issue 
dragged  into  court.  A  church  should  be  very  slow  to  ask 
for  a  resignation,  and,  when  such  action  is  necessary, 
should  act  with  the  largest  measure  of  consideration  for 
its  minister. 

The  cases  where  a  minister  refuses  such  a  request  are 
rare,  and  only  occur  when  the  minister  believes  that 
some  principle  is  at  stake,  or  is  strongly  supported  by 
a  faction  in  the  congregation,  when  the  issue  usually  de¬ 
pends  upon  which  party  can  control  the  church.  As  a 

6  Stearns  v.  First  Parish  in  Bedford,  21  Pick.  114. 


20 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


matter  of  policy  it  is  almost  always  unwise  for  the  minister 
to  fight  a  request  for  his  resignation,  even  if  he  be  sup¬ 
ported  by  a  considerable  group  of  his  parishioners.  If  he 
wins,  it  will  be  at  the  cost  of  dismembering  his  parish, 
leaving  wounds  difficult  or  impossible  to  heal ;  his  ministry 
will  be  marred  or  crippled;  and  he  himself  is  liable  to  be 
embittered.  Furthermore,  the  dissatisfaction  which  has 
once  been  manifested  is  liable  to  raise  its  head  again. 
Therefore  when  he  finds  that  a  substantial  or  determined 
minority  is  against  him  it  is  better  for  him  to  endure  what 
he  may  deem  a  gross  injustice,  and  look  for  another  field 
of  service. 

The  act  of  installation. 

The  formal  installation,  or  institution,  of  the  newly 
chosen  minister  should  take  place  at  the  earliest  convenient 
date  after  he  begins  his  active  service  of  the  church.  In¬ 
stallation  is  the  public  ratification  of  his  contract  with  the 
parish,  lacking  which  he  is  not  legally  its  settled  minister. 
Ecclesiastically  it  is  the  act  of  conferring  upon  him  the 
rights  of  spiritual  leadership  involved  in  his  position  as 
minister.  If  he  has  not  been  already  ordained  the  service 
of  ordination  should  precede  or  be  combined  with  the  serv¬ 
ice  of  installation,  for,  though  a  layman  may  be  employed 
by  a  parish  to  perform  some  of  the  offices  of  a  minister, 
the  law  does  not  recognize  him  as  a  minister  until  he  has 
been  ordained  according  to  the  usages  of  the  church  to 
which  he  belongs.  The  form  of  installation  is,  of  course, 
a  matter  of  denominational  usage,  but  it  should  always 
include  a  spoken  invitation  from  the  church  to  the  minister 
to  fill  its  pulpit,  and  his  acceptance  of  the  invitation. 

The  word  “ induction’ ’  is  sometimes,  but  incorrectly, 
used  as  equivalent  to  installation,  or  institution.  Induc¬ 
tion  was  a  usage  of  the  Church  of  England,  inherited  from 
the  Middle  Ages,  by  which  the  temporalities  of  his  office 
were  transferred  to  the  incumbent,  whereas  institution  was 
the  conferring  upon  him  of  the  spiritualities  of  his  charge. 
Induction  was  carried  out  by  an  archdeacon  under  man¬ 
date  from  the  bishop.  The  inductor  took  the  candidate 
by  the  hand  and  gave  him  the  keys  of  the  church,  with 


CALL  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  MINISTER  21 


which  he  opened  the  door,  entering  and  shutting  himself 
in.  He  then  tolled  the  bell  to  make  the  fact  of  his  induc¬ 
tion  known  to  his  parishioners,  afterwards  opening  the 
doors  to  admit  them.6 

In  the  modern  Office  of  Institution  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  this  country,  the  equivalent  of  instal¬ 
lation,  the  induction  is  now  reduced  to  a  sentence  in  the 
bishop’s  letter  of  institution,  authorizing  the  incumbent 
“to  claim  and  enjoy  all  the  accustomed  temporalities  apper¬ 
taining  to  your  cure,”  and  to  the  presentation  of  the  keys 
of  the  church  to  the  new  rector  by  the  senior  warden,  in 
recognition  of  his  authority  over  its  temporalities. 

In  most  other  Protestant  churches  the  minister  has  no 
such  control  over  the  temporalities  of  the  church  as  was 
symbolized  by  the  ancient  form  of  induction,  and  his  rights 
in  connection  therewith  are  regulated  by  civil  law,  as  will 
be  indicated  hereafter.  In  these  churches,  therefore,  the 
service  of  installation  is  the  recognition  of  a  formal  ap¬ 
pointment  to  the  spiritual  leadership  of  a  particular  parish. 


•  Phillimore,  “Ecclesiastical  Law”  (2  ed.),  Yol.  I,  p.  359.  An 
interesting  reference  to  this  usage  may  be  found  in  Izaak  Walton’s 
“Life  of  George  Herbert”:  “When  at  his  induction  ( 1630b)  he 
was  shut  into  Bemerton  Church,  being  left  there  alone  to  toll  the 
bell, — as  the  law  requires  him, — he  staid  so  much  longer  than  an 
ordinary  time,  before  he  returned  to  those  friends  that  staid  expect¬ 
ing  him  at  the  church-door,  that  his  friend  Mr.  Woodnot  looked  in 
at  the  church-window,  and  saw  him  lie  prostrate  on  the  ground  be¬ 
fore  the  altar.”  This  ancient  usage  has  probably  been  seldom  ob¬ 
served  in  this  country,  perhaps  not  at  all  since  the  Revolution,  but 
at  least  one  minister  of  King ’s  Chapel,  Boston,  insisted  upon  it, 
although  we  are  told  that  his  parishioners  resented  his  doing  so.  In 
the  Annals  of  King’s  Chapel  (Yol.  I,  pp.  390-392)  wre  read  of  the 
induction  of  R'ev.  Roger  Price,  as  rector,  on  June  25,  1729:  “Mr. 
Price  produced  the  Bishop  of  London’s  license  and  certificate,  read¬ 
ing  them  in  the  church,  and  then  delivered  them  to  the  Church 
Wardens  to  be  recorded  in  the  Church  Book.  .  .  .  These  being  read, 
the  R'ev.  Mr.  Henry  Harris,  the  Church  Wardens,  the  Vestrymen,  and 
the  people  who  were  present,  all  went  out  of  the  church,  the  Church 
Wardens  at  the  door  delivering  the  key  of  the  church  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Price,  who,  locking  himself  in  the  church,  tolled  the  bell,  and 
then  unlocked  the  door  of  the  church,  receiving  the  Church  Wardens 
and  Vestrymen  into  the  church  again,  who  wished  him  joy  upon  his 
having  possession  of  the  church.” 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  MINISTER 

The  status  of  the  minister.1 

The  minister  who  has  accepted  a  call  and  has  been  duly 
ordained  and  settled  over  a  church  has  acquired  a  certain 
standing  in  the  community,  with  corresponding  rights  and 
obligations.  His  ordination  gives  him  status  as  a  civil  officer 
qualified  to  solemnize  marriages.  His  installation  gives 
him  status  as  the  minister  of  a  local  church  to  wThich  he 
now  bears  a  definite  legal  and  spiritual  relationship. 

The  canon  law  of  the  Middle  Ages  recognized  the  clergy 
as  a  distinct  caste  within  the  body  politic,  as  did  the  Eng¬ 
lish  common  law  after  the  Reformation,  so  far  as  the  clergy 
of  the  Established  Church  were  concerned.  In  both  cases 
the  clergy  were  granted  certain  privileges  and  exemptions 
which  have  now  to  a  large  extent  disappeared  in  England. 
American  civil  law  does  not  now  recognize  the  clergy  of 
any  church  as  in  any  sense  constituting  a  separate  caste, 
but  it  does  regard  them  as  quasi-officers  of  the  law  for  the 
solemnization  of  marriages,  and  gives  them  a  certain 
measure  of  special  protection  in  the  exercise  of  their 
profession. 

Canon  law'  and  “benefit  of  clergy.” 

Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  the  clergy  in  England  were 
exempt  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  courts  and  could 
be  tried  only  by  ecclesiastical  tribunals.  This  exemption 
covered  all  persons  who  had  been  tonsured  and  who  wore 
ecclesiastical  dress,  and  ability  to  read — which  in  early 
days  was  very  rarely  to  be  found  among  persons  not  in 

1  See  Zollman,  1 1  American  Civil  Church  Law, 1  ’  Chap.  XII,  for  a 
full  treatment  of  the  legal  aspects  of  this  subject. 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  MINISTER  23 


holy  orders — was  the  test  commonly  applied  to  determine 
whether  a  given  individual  was  or  was  not  entitled  to 
this  “ benefit  of  clergy.’ ’  As  ability  to  read  and  write 
spread,  however,  many  claimed  “benefit  of  clergy”  who 
were  not  entitled  to  it,  even  under  the  most  liberal  inter¬ 
pretation  of  the  phrase,  and  the  manifold  and  gross  abuses 
arising  therefrom  led  to  a  gradual  limitation  of  “benefit  of 
clergy,”  although  it  was  not  until  1827  that  all  exemption 
of  the  clergy  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  court  was 
finally  abolished  by  Parliament.  In  this  country  “benefit 
of  clergy”  was  forbidden  by  Act  of  Congress  in  1790. 

Exemptions. 

English  common  law  provides  that  ecclesiastical  persons 
are  not  under  obligation  to  serve  in  any  temporal  office, 
because  the  proper  discharge  of  their  duties  makes  it  in¬ 
expedient  that  they  should  be  entangled  with  temporal 
business.2  They  are  even  forbidden  to  hold  secular  offices 
and  employment,  although  before  the  Reformation  high 
governmental  administrative  posts  were  commonly  held 
by  churchmen.  In  England  a  clergyman  cannot  be 
arrested  while  going  to,  attending,  or  returning  from 
divine  service.  Formerly  clergy  were  free  from  tolls 
and  similar  charges;  now  they  are  subject  to  all  such 
charges  unless  especially  exempted  by  Act  of  Parliament. 
In  this  country,  as  in  England,  ministers  of  religion  are 
exempt  from  jury  duty,  and  usually  from  military  service, 
on  the  ground  that  such  forms  of  service  are  incompatible 
with  their  professional  duties.  These  exemptions,  be  it 
noted,  are  for  the  benefit  not  of  the  minister  but  of  the 
community  which  he  serves.  The  same  principle  governs 
the  right  of  railroads  to  give  reduced  rates  or  passes  to 
ministers.  It  is  believed  to  be  a  benefit  to  the  community 
that  they  should  be  enabled  to  travel  at  a  minimum  of 
expense,  while  engaged  in  professional  duties.  In  some 
states  a  minister  may  not  hold  public  office.  Thus  the  con¬ 
stitution  of  the  State  of  Delaware  provides  that  “no  or¬ 
dained  clergyman  or  ordained  preacher  of  the  gospel  of 

*  Phillimore ’s  1 1  Ecclesiastical  Law”  (2d  ed.),  Vol.  I,  p.  473. 


24 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


any  denomination  shall  be  capable  of  holding  any  civil 
office  in  this  state,  or  of  being  a  member  of  either  branch 
of  the  legislature,  while  he  continues  in  the  exercise  of  the 
pastoral  or  clerical  functions. 1  ’ 3 

Solemnization  of  marriages. 

In  the  performance  of  a  marriage  service  the  minister  has 
a  definite  status  as  a  public  officer.  Marriage  in  this  coun¬ 
try  is  a  civil  function.  In  Massachusetts  ministers  wTere 
forbidden  in  1646  to  celebrate  marriages,  but  the  law  was, 
in  this  respect,  gradually  relaxed.  The  practice  of  two 
marriage  ceremonies,  one  civil  and  the  other  ecclesiastical, 
which  prevails  in  continental  Europe,  has,  however,  been 
avoided  here  by  legislation  which  permits  duly  ordained 
ministers  of  any  denomination  to  serve  as  civil  officers  in 
performing  marriages.  The  statutes  governing  both  mar¬ 
riage  and  divorce  vary  greatly  in  the  different  states  of  the 
Union,  but,  in  general,  any  priest,  minister,  or  rabbi  or¬ 
dained  or  appointed  according  to  the  custom  of  the  church 
to  which  he  belongs,  who  is  actively  engaged  in  its  service, 
and  is  a  resident  of  the  state,  may  perform  marriages 
within  its  borders.  He  does  so,  however,  “as  a  minister  of 
the  law  or  quasi-officer,  deriving  his  authority  from  the 
statutes.  ’  ’  4  It  is  essential  that  his  ordination  should  have 
duly  taken  place,  and  that  the  minister  should  have  a  rec¬ 
ognized  status  as  such  in  some  organized  religious  body. 
An  itinerant  evangelist,  holding  occasional  religious  serv¬ 
ices  on  his  own  initiative,  or  the  casual  occupant  of  a  pulpit 
who  is  chiefly  engaged  in  secular  pursuits,  is  not  qualified 
to  solemnize  marriages.  Massachusetts  permits  no  non¬ 
resident  minister  to  conduct  a  marriage  in  the  state;  New 
Hampshire  will  give  a  non-resident  a  special  license  upon 
due  application ;  a  few  states  permit  any  ordained  minister 
to  perform  the  service  even  though  he  be  a  resident 
of  another  state.  Few  states  require  the  registration 

3  See  Zollman,  “  American  Civil  Church  Law,  ”  p.  334.  Zollman 
hints  at  the  incompatibility  of  such  a  constitutional  provision  with 
the  statutes  which  give  ministers  a  quasi-official  status  for  the  sol¬ 
emnization  of  marriages. 

4  Zollman,  op.  cit.,  p.  332. 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  MINISTER  25 


of  ministers  qualified  to  perform  marriages,  and  there  is  a 
lamentable  lack  of  uniformity  in  legislation  governing  the 
subject,5  It  is  a  matter  of  prime  importance  that  every 
minister  should,  at  the  outset  of  his  ministry  or  whenever 
he  moves  to  another  state,  before  he  performs  any  mar¬ 
riage,  inform  himself  of  the  marriage  laws  of  his  state. 
Otherwise,  he  is  liable  to  find  himself  guilty  of  violation  of 
the  law  in  some  respect.  In  most  states  a  marriage  entered 
into  in  good  faith  is  held  to  be  valid  even  if  the  minister 
who  performs  the  ceremony  was  not  legally  qualified  to  do 
so,  but  the  minister  in  question  may  be  subject  to  penalties. 
His  ignorance  of  the  law  is  no  excuse ;  it  is  his  duty  to 
know  the  law.  A  copy  of  the  marriage  laws  can  generally 
be  obtained,  without  charge,  upon  application  to  the  Secre¬ 
tary  of  the  State. 

In  most  states  the  parties  to  the  marriage  must  secure  a 
license  from  the  clerk  of  the  town  or  city  of  their  residence, 
or  from  the  county  clerk,  and  the  minister  may  not  perform 
the  ceremony  until  the  license,  duly  made  out,  is  actually 
in  his  hands.  After  the  ceremony  he  is  responsible  for  the 
prompt  return  of  the  license,  duly  signed,  to  the  town,  city, 
or  county  clerk  who  issued  it.  The  minister  is  not  respon¬ 
sible  for  errors  or  false  statements  in  the  license,  if  it  be 
made  out  in  due  form,  but  if  he  discovers  that  an  erroneous 
statement  has  been  made  in  the  license  with  apparent  intent 
to  deceive  he  should  refuse  to  perform  the  ceremony  until 
a  correct  license  is  procured.  If  the  error  is  one  which  does 
not  in  any  way  affect  the  validity  of  the  marriage  but  is 
merely  accidental,6  he  should  proceed  with  the  ceremony 
but  should  inform  the  clerk  who  issued  the  license,  when  he 
makes  his  return,  asking  that  the  record  be  corrected. 

The  minister  is  not,  however,  under  obligation  to  marry 
any  couple  who  may  come  to  him,  even  if  the  license  be 
duly  made  out.  He  may  decline  to  do  so  if  he  has  reason 
to  suspect  that  the  statements  made  therein  are  untrue — as 

8  See  Hall  and  Brooke,  “  American  Marriage  Laws, 1919. 

6  For  example,  a  misspelling  of  a  name — as  Lewis  for  Louis,  or 
Clarke  for  Clark — when  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  the 
person  involved;  or  an  inaccuracy  as  to  the  place  of  birth,  or  as 
to  the  age  of  one  or  the  other  party  when  a  question  as  to  the  age 
of  consent  is  not  involved. 


26 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


for  instance,  that  one  of  the  parties  is  under  legal  age,  or 
is  for  any  other  reason  not  competent  to  marry.  He  may 
also  refuse  to  marry  divorced  persons,  and  should  do  so  if 
the  canon  law  of  his  church  forbids  its  clergy  to  perform 
the  ceremony  in  such  case.  Where  the  laws  of  his  church 
leave  him  free  to  use  his  own  discretion,  he  will  do  well  in 
every  case  to  make  careful  inquiry  into  the  conditions 
under  which  the  divorce  was  granted,  to  make  certain  that 
the  divorced  person  may  be  legally  married  again,  and  to 
avoid  the  chances  of  scandal  which  may  arise  from  his  too 
complaisant  willingness  to  perform  such  ceremonies.  The 
minister,  however,  should  not  decline  to  marry  a  couple 
save  for  very  good  and.  serious  reasons.  He  may  seek  to 
persuade  a  couple  against  a  foolish  runaway  match,  but  it 
is  not  his  business  to  decide,  at  the  end  of  a  few  minutes’ 
conversation,  whether  or  not  the  marriage  is  a  wise  one, 
and  he  must  remember  that  his  refusal  of  a  couple  who  are 
honest  and  sincere  in  their  intentions  may  deeply  wound 
them  at  one  of  the  holiest  moments  of  their  lives. 

C onfidential  communications. 

There  are  many  occasions  upon  which  the  minister  re¬ 
ceives  confidential  communications  of  the  most  intimate 
sort.  If  he  stays  long  in  a  parish  he  is  likely  to  know  many 
things  about  his  parishioners — their  sins,  their  sorrows, 
their  hidden  tragedies — which  he  has  no  right  to  communi¬ 
cate  to  any  living  soul.  The  voluntary  disclosure  of  such 
secrets,  especially  of  information  given  in  the  confessional 
or  in  the  course  of  church  discipline,  is  a  most  serious 
breach  of  professional  ethics,  and  may  also  subject  him  to 
civil  liability.  The  Roman  priest  is  absolutely  forbidden 
to  disclose  any  confession  made  to  him,  save  to  his  bishop 
in  certain  very  exceptional  cases.  The  Protestant  minister 
who  has  any  desire  to  retain  the  confidence  of  his  people 
must  likewise  be  known  as  a  man  who  can  be  absolutely 
counted  on  to  hold  his  tongue.  He  must  not  tell  even  his 
wife — for  though  his  parishioners  may  like  her,  they  have 
no  intention  of  confessing  to  her  too. 

The  minister  must,  however,  remember  the  possibility  of 
being  called  upon  to  testify  in  a  court  of  law  about  some 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  MINISTER  27 


matter  which  has  come  to  his  knowledge  through  such  dis¬ 
closures  from  persons  seeking  his  spiritual  advice.  At 
common  law  such  communications  are  not  privileged,  al¬ 
though  in  some  states  statute  iaw  forbids  the  disclosure  by 
a  clergyman  or  priest  of  communications  made  to  them  in 
the  course  of  discipline  by  their  respective  churches.7 
Such  statutes  have  also  been  held  to  preclude  the  disclosure 
of  the  advice  given  by  the  spiritual  adviser.  In  order  that 
a  communication  be  thus  privileged  it  is  necessary  that  it 
be  made  to  the  clergyman  as  such,  in  the  course  of  disci¬ 
pline  enjoined  by  the  church,  and  that  it  be  of  such  char¬ 
acter  as  is  necessary  to  enable  him  to  discharge  the  function 
of  his  office.  It  must  also  have  been  made  and  received  in 
confidence,  although  no  express  promise  of  secrecy  is  neces¬ 
sary.  This  covers  the  Roman  Catholic  confessional,  and  the 
confessional  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  where  it 
is  in  use.  It  may  not  in  every  case  cover  communications 
made  in  confidence  to  ministers  of  other  Protestant  denom¬ 
inations,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  determining  whether 
they  have  been  made  in  the  course  of  “church  discipline,’ ’ 
often  a  point  of  great  uncertainty  in  churches  which  lack 
a  formal  code  for  dealing  with  such  matters. 

Owing  to  the  wide  diversity  of  statutory  provision  in 
the  several  states  of  the  Union  the  minister  should  seek 
sound  legal  advice  as  to  the  law  which  prevails  in  his  domi¬ 
cile,  that  his  conduct  may,  in  some  measure,  be  guided 
accordingly.  Where  there  is  no  statute  protecting  him  in 
the  matter  of  confidential  communications  he  must,  of 
course,  act  as  conscience  dictates  if  summoned  to  give  in 
court  information  thus  received.  If  he  feels  that  he  has 
no  right  to  make  the  disclosure  called  for — as  a  Roman 
priest  would  certainly  feel  about  any  matter  made  known 
to  him  in  the  confessional — he  must  refuse  to  give  the 
required  testimony,  and  be  prepared  to  accept  such  pen¬ 
alty  as  may  be  inflicted  for  contempt  of  court. 

There  is  one  other  point  to  be  observed  in  this  connec¬ 
tion.  The  minister  may  not  exercise  any  undue  influence 
upon  a  parishioner,  to  the  injury  of  other  heirs,  in  order 
to  secure  a  bequest  for  himself  or  for  some  charitable  or 

7  See  40  Cye.,  p.  2390.  Also  Zollman,  op.  tit.,  p.  334. 


28 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


religious  purpose  in  which  he  is  interested.  Where  such 
undue  influence  is  suspected,  the  court  will  not  hold  com¬ 
munications  which  he  may  have  had  with  the  testator  to  be 
confidential. 

Slander  and  libel. 

The  minister  is  not  a  privileged  person  not  amenable  to 
the  law  of  libel  and  slander,  but  is  subject  to  that  law  for 
statements  which  he  may  make  about  other  people,  whether 
he  speak  in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it,  and  he  may  be  held  for 
breach  of  the  peace  on  account  of  the  violence  of  his  lan¬ 
guage.  But  he  is  not  open  to  action  for  slander  or  libel  for 
official  announcements  made  in  good  faith  in  the  course  of 
church  discipline,  such  as  the  pronouncement  of  a  sentence 
of  excommunication.  “However,  if  the  clergyman  goes 
farther,  and  advises  his  people  to  shun  the  excommunicated 
person  in  business  transactions  and  not  to  come  near  to  his 
home  or  employ  him  .  .  .  ,  he  steps  outside  of  his  privilege 
and  will  be  liable  to  an  action  of  slander  or  libel.  ’  ’ 8 

On  the  other  hand,  the  law  will  carefully  guard  his  stand¬ 
ing  and  reputation  as  a  professional  man,  and  will  protect 
him  from  any  defamation  of  character  which  tends  to 
injure  his  repute  as  a  minister.  His  acts  or  words  may  be 
commented  upon  and  criticized,  like  those  of  any  public 
man,  “but  the  commentator  must  confine  his  attention  to 
them,  and  may  not  draw  on  his  imagination  for  charges 
with  which  to  soil  the  clergyman ’s  character.  ”  9  In  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  minister’s  professional  reputation  is 
gravely  affected  by  any  injurious  imputation  as  to  his  char¬ 
acter,  statements  concerning  him  may  be  regarded  as  libel¬ 
ous  and  actionable  which  would  not  be  held  to  be  injurious 
to  the  reputation  of  a  layman. 

Contracts. 

The  minister  is  subject  to  the  ordinary  law  of  contracts. 
This  is  obviously  the  case  as  regards  the  contracts  which 
he  may  enter  into  in  everyday  life.  The  law  also  applies  to 
his  engagement  with  his  parish,  since  this,  as  was  pointed 

8  Zollman,  op.  cit.,  p.  350. 

0  Zollman,  op,  cit.,  p.  331. 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  MINISTER  29 


out  in  the  first  chapter,  is  legally  a  contractual  relationship 
involving  mutual  rights  and  obligations.  The  minister  who 
has  been  duly  installed  in  a  church  has  certain  definite 
duties  to  perform.  He  has  entered  into  a  contract  with 
the  church  to  conduct  its  services  of  worship  and  to  admin¬ 
ister  the  sacraments  in  the  manner  established  by  the  cus¬ 
toms  of  his  church ;  to  preach  with  as  much  unction  as  the 
Lord  gives  him ;  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office ; 
and  to  exercise  a  general  supervision  over  the  educational 
and  administrative  activities  of  the  parish.  The  emphasis 
on  these  various  aspects  of  church  work  differs  greatly  in 
differing  localities  and  denominations.  In  some  places  the 
community  welfare  work  of  an  institutional  church,  or 
other  administrative  duties,  may  absorb  the  greater  part 
of  the  minister’s  time  and  strength.  In  another  church  of 
marked  ritualistic  tendencies  the. conduct  of  daily  services, 
and  especially  the  frequent  ‘ 1  celebration  ”  of  the  eucharist, 
may  be  his  primary  obligation.  In  a  non-liturgical  church 
the  weight  of  emphasis  may  be  on  the  preaching.  Else¬ 
where  constant  parish  calling  may  be  expected,  and  very 
moderate  accomplishments  in  much  else  be  forgiven  a  min¬ 
ister  who  is  diligent  in  visiting  his  flock  in  their  homes. 
In  the  nature  of  the  case  the  precise  details  of  fulfilling 
these  offices  cannot  be  laid  down ;  but  each  man  must  do 
with  all  his  heart  and  soul  the  various  duties  which  fall 
to  him. 

The  minister’s  duty  to  his  parish. 

The  church,  at  least  if  it  pays  a  fair  salary,  has  a  claim 
upon  the  minister’s  full  time  and  strength.  Unless  by 
special  arrangement,  he  has  no  right  to  add  other  remunera¬ 
tive  employment  to  his  ministry — teaching,  lecturing, 
selling  books  or  life  insurance.  If  he  cannot  live  on  his 
salary,  let  him  say  so  to  the  parish  committee,  and  give 
them  the  choice  of  raising  his  salary,  of  setting  him  free  for 
part  of  his  time  that  he  may  earn  money  outside,  or  of 
accepting  his  resignation.  Broadly  speaking,  however,  it 
is  undesirable  for  a  minister  to  do  outside  work.10  He 

10  This  does  not,  of  course,  apply  to  the  minister  *s  wife,  on  whose 
time  or  service  the  church  has  no  especial  claim,  unless  she  is  also 


30 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


begins  the  service  of  two  masters,  his  professional  work 
suffers,  perhaps  his  interest  in  it  weakens;  he  tend  to  do 
the  thing  which  is  immediately  profitable  to  the  neglect  of 
what  is  spiritually  important.  Many  a  ministry  has  been 
wrecked  by  the  temptation  to  increase  the  ministerial  in¬ 
come  by  serving  worldly  interests  on  week  days  and  God 
on  Sundays.  That,  of  course,  does  not  mean  that  the  min¬ 
ister  should  not  accept  fees  for  professional  services,  such 
as  funerals  and  weddings  outside  his  parish,  or  that  he 
should  never  lecture,  or  write  essays  or  a  book  if  he  be  so 
gifted.  But  it  does  mean  that  he  must  be  scrupulously 
careful  that  love  of  fees  or  fame  does  not  lead  to  extra-pro¬ 
fessional  lecturing  or  writing  which  absorb  time  and  energy 
properly  belonging  to  his  church  and  for  which  he  should 
not  be  paid  twice.  Some  outside  lecturing,  some  writing, 
he  may  perhaps  do  with  advantage  to  his  parish,  which 
profits  by  his  growing  reputation — how  much  is  a  matter 
for  prayerful  inquiry,  always  remembering  that  few  men 
can  fulfill  all  their  duties  to  their  parish  and  do  much  of 
anything  else  besides. 

A  somewhat  similar  problem  arises  in  connection  with 
the  minister’s  relation  to  the  general  activities  of  his 
denomination,  and  to  the  community  in  which  he  lives.  His 
parish  should  recognize  the  right  of  the  denomination  to 
special  service  from  him  upon  occasion.  And  most 
churches  are  glad  to  have  their  ministers  take  a  reasonable 
part  in  community  affairs.  But  it  is  very  easy  for  an  ener¬ 
getic  and  capable  minister  to  be  swamped  with  such  activi¬ 
ties.  If  he  be  a  willing  worker,  he  will  be  loaded  with 
unpaid  jobs  to  the  limit  of  his  capacity.  All  the  community 
welfare  enterprises  in  search  of  a  man  will  try  to  draft 
him  into  service.  If  he  be  not  on  his  guard,  he  finds  himself 

paid  for  some  specific  church  work.  A  church  has  no  right  to  re¬ 
gard  the  minister’s  wife  as  a  parish  assistant,  whose  services  are 
thrown  in  with  her  husband’s.  She  will,  of  course,  do  what  she 
can  to  uphold  her  husband’s  work,  but  the  church  should  not  make 
demands  upon  her  which  it  would  not  be  justified  in  making  on 
other  church  members.  If  her  domestic  situation  is  such  that  she 
is  free  to  accept  a  salaried  position,  such  as  that  of  school-teacher, 
or  to  engage  in  other  remunerative  employment,  that  is  her  business, 
and  it  does  not  concern  the  parish. 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  MINISTER  31 


the  chairman — which  usually  means  the  chore-boy — of  in¬ 
numerable  committees,  to  the  grave  detriment  of  his 
primary  duties.  His  parish  has  a  right  to  expect  him  to 
limit  himself  to  those  few  outside  interests  for  w^hich  he  is 
especially  fitted,  and  in  those  he  should  seek  rather  to  be  a 
counselor  than  an  active  administrator,  for  his  real  work 
is  to  carry  on  his  church  and  not  to  run  the  Associated 
Charities  or  the  School  Board  or  the  Public  Library. 

The  rights  of  the  minister}1 

The  minister  on  his  part  has  certain  rights  which  the 
parish  is  under  obligation  to  respect.  He  has  a  right  to  his 
full  salary,  paid  promptly,  and  to  have  the  parsonage 
properly  maintained.  He  is  master  in  his  own  pulpit ;  is 
sole  judge  of  what  and  how  he  shall  preach,  except  that  he 
may  not  preach  against  the  “essential  doctrines”  of  his 
church,  and  that  his  calling  requires  him  ever  to  speak  the 
truth  in  love.  So  long  as  he  remains  the  pastor  of  the 
church,  and  has  not  been  enjoined  or  suspended  by  a  civil 
or  ecclesiastical  court,  he  cannot  be  excluded  from  his  pul¬ 
pit  or  from  the  church  building  at  the  time  of  usual  wor¬ 
ship.  If  the  congregation  does  not  like  his  preaching  its 
only  redress  is  to  terminate  his  pastorate  in  the  customary 
way  after  due  notice.  Until  such  actual  termination  of  his 
pastorate  he  alone  has  the  right  to  conduct  the  service  and 
to  preach,  or  to  invite  another  to  occupy  his  pulpit.  He 
has  the  sole  right  to  say  who  shall  or  shall  not  preach  in 
his  pulpit,  or  with  whom  he  will  exchange.  If  he  is  wise 
he  will  not  inflict  upon  his  people  other  ministers  whom 
they  do  not  wish  to  hear,  but  if  he  does  so  their  only  re¬ 
course  is  to  stay  away  from  church.  Another  minister 
cannot  be  put  in  his  place,  and  the  parish  can  neither 
reduce  his  salary  without  his  consent,  nor  refuse  to  pay  it, 
since  to  do  either  is  to  break  its  contract  with  him.  He 
must,  however,  conduct  himself  in  such  fashion  as  to  cause 
no  scandal,  and  he  may  not  change  the  customary  time  or 

11  For  many  of  the  points  in  this  and  the  following  section  I  am 
indebted  to  three  articles  by  Rev.  R.  F.  Johonnot,  LL.B.  on  “The 
Legal  Relations  of  the  Minister  to  his  Parish, >}  in  the  TJmversalist 
Leader  of  May  27,  June  3  and  10,  1911. 


32 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


order  of  service  without  a  vote  passed  by  a  majority  of  the 
members  at  a  regular  meeting.  He  has  authority  over  the 
choir  so  far  as  the  services  of  worship  are  concerned, 
though  he  may  not  ask  of  its  members  more  than  their  con¬ 
tract  stipulates,  nor  may  he  dismiss  them  for  non-compli¬ 
ance,  though  he  may  insist  that  the  church  officers  cause 
his  wishes  to  be  carried  out. 

Although  he  has  the  right  to  the  full  use  of  the  church 
buildings  for  all  the  customary  services,  he  has  not,  in  most 
denominations  other  than  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  a  legal 
right  to  possession  of  the  keys  of  the  church ;  though  as  a 
matter  of  common  courtesy,  as  well  as  of  convenience,  he 
should  be  supplied  with  a  set  so  that  he  may  have  access  to 
the  building  at  all  times.  His  authority,  however,  is  lim¬ 
ited  to  the  spiritual  administration  of  his  parish.  As  he 
is  not  responsible  for  raising  the  money  by  which  its  activi¬ 
ties  are  supported,  he  is  equally  without  power  on  his  own 
initiative  to  authorize  expenditures.  He  may  make  no  con¬ 
tract  binding  upon  the  parish  for  any  supplies,  or  for 
repairs  or  alterations  to  the  church  property,  nor  may  he 
engage  or  dismiss  employees,  such  as  a  sexton,  or  the  choir, 
unless  he  is  acting  as  the  agent  of  the  parish  under  a  formal 
vote  of  the  trustees  or  congregation.  The  minister  should 
be  punctiliously  careful  not  to  overstep  his  authority  in 
these  matters. 

Furthermore,  he  may  not  grant  the  use  of  the  church 
building  or  parish  house  for  any  purposes  outside  their 
regular  uses,  except  by  consent  of  the  church  officers,  or, 
in  the  last  resort,  of  the  qualified  voters  of  the  church. 
No  matter  how  excellent  the  cause  may  be — a  public  lec¬ 
ture,  a  meeting  in  behalf  of  peace,  or  for  some  wholly 
admirable  community  purpose — if  it  be  other  than  the 
usual  services  of  worship  or  a  customary  activity  of  some 
church  society,  permission  should  always  be  obtained  from 
the  church  officers.  The  property  does  not  belong  to  the 
minister  but  to  the  parish,  which  has  the  right  to  say  to 
what  extent  it  shall  be  used  for  miscellaneous  purposes. 
The  minister’s  right  over  it  is  limited  to  its  use  for  the 
particular  purpose  for  which  he  is  engaged. 

On  the  other  hand,  neither  the  trustees  nor  the  parish 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OP  THE  MINISTER  33 


ought  to  rent  the  church  property,  or  permit  its  use,  for 
miscellaneous  purposes  in  the  face  of  the  minister’s  dis¬ 
approval.  They  perhaps  have  the  legal  right  to  do  so,  since 
the  property  belongs  to  the  parish,  but,  since  their  action 
may  prove  embarrassing  to  the  minister,  or  prejudicial  to 
his  reputation  in  the  community,  they  are  morally  bound  to 
regard  his  wishes.  They  should  also  recognize  his  authority 
to  forbid  any  line  of  action  detrimental  to  the  moral  wel¬ 
fare  of  the  church  or  subversive  of  accepted  church  disci¬ 
pline,  even  when  proposed  under  the  auspices  of  some 
church  organization.  Thus  the  minister  is  in  duty  bound  to 
put  a  stop  to  a  raffle  if  one  be  introduced  at  a  church  fair 
in  the  parish  house,  or  to  forbid  dancing  or  a  dramatic 
performance  there  in  those  denominations  which  do  not 
sanction  such  forms  of  entertainment. 

The  minister’s  relation  to  the  governing  board  of  his 
church. 

The  right  of  the  minister  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the 
trustees,  prudential  committee,  vestry,  or  other  governing 
body  of  the  parish,  is  governed  by  church  law  or  custom, 
which  varies  in  the  different  Protestant  denominations.  In 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  the  rector  always  presides 
at  meetings  of  the  wardens  and  vestry.  In  churches  of  the 
Congregational  order  the  minister  has  no  legal  right  to 
attend  the  meetings  of  the  governing  board,  and,  in  prac¬ 
tice,  is  frequently  not  invited  to  do  so.  The  lack  of  an 
established  custom  in  this  respect  is  frequently  a  cause  of 
misunderstanding  and  friction,  which  could  easily  be  obvi¬ 
ated  if  the  governing  board  would  make  a  point  of  inviting 
the  minister  to  sit  with  it  habitually,  without  a  vote,  reserv¬ 
ing  only  the  right  to  meet  without  him  or  to  suggest  his 
withdrawal  when  the  matters  under  consideration  are  of 
such  nature  as  to  make  his  presence  embarrassing.  Inas¬ 
much  as  the  minister  will  naturally  hesitate  himself  to 
propose  that  he  attend  meetings  of  a  board  of  which  he  is 
not  a  member,  the  board  should  take  the  initiative  in  this 
matter  at  the  time  of  his  settlement. 

It  is  obviously  of  great  advantage  to  the  church  that  he 
should  sit  habitually  with  the  governing  board,  for  only  so 


34 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


can  he  keep  adequately  informed  as  to  the  financial  condi¬ 
tion  and  the  business  problems  of  the  church,  and  find  con¬ 
venient  opportunity  to  present  matters  which  come  to  his 
attention  and  to  offer  suggestions  as  to  the  administration 
of  the  church.  Even  though  he  have  no  direct  responsi¬ 
bility  either  for  raising  the  income  of  the  church  or  for  its 
expenditures,  he  is  nevertheless  vitally  concerned  in  its 
financial  welfare  and  should  be  kept  informed  as  to  how 
things  are  going.  It  should  also  be  recognized  that  the 
modern  minister  is  increasingly  an  administrator,  in  active 
charge  of  various  departments  w7hich  call  for  an  expendi¬ 
ture  of  money.  Churches  and  ministers  do,  indeed,  differ 
greatly  among  themselves  in  this  respect.  Some  churches 
look  after  their  business  affairs  without  informing  the  min¬ 
ister  of  any  details,  regarding  him  as  solely  the  spiritual 
leader.  Others  expect  too  much  of  him,  placing  upon  his 
shoulders  many  details  of  parish  administration  to  which 
the  laymen,  or  a  hired  clerk,  ought  to  attend.  Neither  atti¬ 
tude  is  commendable.  The  wise  method  is  for  the  laymen 
to  administer  the  temporalities  of  the  parish,  but  to  take 
the  minister  fully  into  their  confidence,  realizing  that  many 
a  modern  minister  can  give  expert  advice  in  this  field,  even 
as  to  methods  of  raising  money. 

It  may  often,  indeed,  prove  that  the  minister  will  find 
that  the  business  of  the  church  needs  a  thorough  over¬ 
hauling.  The  constitution  and  by-laws  may  be  out  of  date 
or  not  in  accord  with  the  requirements  of  the  state  law. 
The  church  may  in  practice  ignore  some  of  its  own  by-laws, 
resulting  in  doubt  as  to  the  proper  admission  of  members, 
the  accuracy  of  its  voting  list,  and  the  validity  of  its  actions 
at  business  meetings.  A  parish  may  run  along  placidly  for 
decades  using  such  improper  methods,  but  behind  them 
always  lurks  the  possibility  of  a  disrupting  quarrel  or 
of  a  lawsuit,  and  they  are  generally  symptoms  of  a  slow 
degeneration  of  the  spiritual  life.  Efficient  business  man¬ 
agement  and  careful  observance  of  the  legal  requirements 
are  not  “  unspiritual. On  the  contrary,  they  generally 
indicate  a  healthy  religious  condition,  for  'they  mean  that 
the  intelligent  leaders  in  the  parish,  instead  of  holding  an 
attitude  of  amiable  indifference,  are  taking  an  active  inter- 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  MINISTER  35 


est  in  its  work.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  monasteries 
of  the  Middle  Ages  were  doing  their  best  service  for  the 
community  in  those  periods  when  their  business  adminis¬ 
tration  was  most  efficient. 

When,  therefore,  the  minister  finds  himself  settled  in  a 
parish  which  is  badly  run  on  the  business  side,  it  is  his  duty 
as  well  as  his  right  to  propose  such  new  methods  as  have 
proved  successful  elsewhere,  and  the  laymen,  instead  of 
resenting  such  action  as  interference,  ought  to  welcome 
such  information  and  advice  as  he  can  give  them.  The 
minister’s  success  professionally  is  in  a  certain  degree 
measurable  by  the  growth  of  his  church.  To  judge  his 
value  by  the  increase  or  decline  of  its  membership  or  its 
income  is,  indeed,  a  very  crude  test,  and  sometimes  a  most 
unfair  one.  A  church  may  be  declining  both  in  members 
and  in  income  because  of  circumstances  over  which  the 
minister  has  no  control,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  wide  popu¬ 
larity  may  attend  a  ministry  which  is  thin  and  poor  spir¬ 
itually.  Yet  it  is  undeniably  a  fact  that  strong,  vigorous 
leadership  in  moral  and  spiritual  things  will  generally 
manifest  itself  in  the  increasing  strength  and  efficiency  of 
the  parish.  Except  where  conditions  are  already  unfavor¬ 
able  a  decaying  church  is  generally  the  result  of  a  weak 
and  ineffective  ministry.  Inasmuch,  then,  as  his  profes¬ 
sional  success  is  inevitably  to  some  extent  judged  by  the 
material  prosperity  of  his  church,  it  is  no  more  than  just 
that  the  minister  should  know  the  full  details  of  its  business 
management. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  LEGAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 

State  and  church  in  the  United  States. 

In  tlie  United  States  the  establishment  of  any  church  as 
the  religion  of  the  state  is  forbidden  in  the  Federal  Con¬ 
stitution.  In  several  of  the  colonies,  however,  which  pre¬ 
ceded  the  present  Union,  one  or  another  form  of  church 
organization  did  receive  some  measure  of  official  recogni¬ 
tion  and  of  support  from  taxation,  although  the  laws 
governing  the  church  establishment  in  England  did  not 
generally  extend  to  the  colonies.  Massachusetts  offers  a 
conspicuous  example  of  close  connection  between  church 
and  state,  for  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  was  organ¬ 
ized  on  a  frankly  theocratic  basis.  Originally  church  mem¬ 
bership  was  the  basis  for  the  franchise,  until  the  charter 
granted  by  William  and  Mary  substituted  a  property  qual¬ 
ification  therefor.  In  1692  the  General  Court  passed  a  law 
requiring  each  town  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  an 
“able,  learned,  orthodox  minister  or  ministers  of  good  con¬ 
versation.”  Curiously  enough  Boston  was  the  only  town 
in  which  the  ministers  were  maintained  by  voluntary  con¬ 
tributions.  The  churches  thus  maintained  by  public 
taxation  were  those  of  the  Congregational  order,  and  the 
religious  history  of  the  colony  from  the  middle  of  the  sev¬ 
enteenth  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  marked 
by  the  constant  struggle  of  Baptists,  Quakers,  and  Episco¬ 
palians  to  obtain  release  from  those  taxes.  Quakers  were 
relieved  from  such  taxation  in  1731,  Baptists  in  1734,  and 
Episcopalians  in  1742,  and  all  taxation  in  support  of 
churches  was  abolished  in  1833.  Somewhat  similar  condi¬ 
tions,  varying  according  to  the  local  situation,  prevailed  in 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  and  Virginia. 

36 


THE  LEGAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  37 


So  far  as  the  Federal  Government  is  concerned,  church 
societies  have  always  been  regarded  as  private  corporations, 
all  being  treated  on  an  impartial  and  equal  basis.  The 
state  does  not  recognize  denominations  as  a  whole  as  cor¬ 
porations,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  the  Philippines,  under  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris. 
In  the  United  States  the  Roman  Church  is  a  hierarchy,  not 
a  corporation.1  So,  also,  the  various  Protestant  bodies  are 
not  corporations  as  such,  though  their  local  churches  and 
many  organizations  for  denominational  purposes  are  gen¬ 
erally  incorporated. 

The  state  does  not  recognize  canon  law  as  having  any 
jurisdiction  where  it  comes  into  conflict  with  state  law, 
though  in  other  cases  canon  law  or  customary  usage  is  taken 
into  consideration  as  governing  the  action  of  churches. 
Any  church,  however,  must  obey  the  statutory  law  gov¬ 
erning  corporations,  even  when  that  law  does  not  coincide 
with  the  canon  law,  for  the  charter  under  which  it  operates 
is  binding  upon  it,  though  its  own  by-laws  are  also  binding 
in  so  far  as  they  are  not  contradictory  to  the  provisions  of 
the  charter. 

Almost  all  church  societies  are  now  incorporated.  The 
exceptions  are  a  limited  number  of  old  churches  which  go 
back  to  colonial  times,  antedating  the  existing  laws,  and  a 
few  churches  informally  organized  as  voluntary  associa¬ 
tions,  the  property  of  which  is  held  in  trust  by  one  or  more 
individuals  or  by  some  denominational  body.  While  it  is 
not  obligatory  upon  a  church  to  incorporate,  it  is  very 
desirable  that  every  new  organization  should  do  so,  at  least 
as  soon  as  it  has  passed  the  tentative,  experimental  stage, 
and  can  look  forward  to  some  degree  of  permanence. 

Types  of  church  corporations  2: 

(a)  The  territorial  parish. 

The  English  colonists  who  settled  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
brought  with  them  the  conception  of  a  parish  as  including 
a  territorial  area,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  parish- 

1Zollman,  “American  Civil  Church  Law,”  pp.  47-49. 

2  See  Zollman,  op.  cit.,  Chap.  II. 


38 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


ioners  of  the  local  church.  Therefore  both  in  New  England 
and  in  some  of  the  other  seaboard  colonies  the  original 
form  of  organization  was  that  of  the  territorial  parish  sup¬ 
ported  by  taxation.  Ministers  were  elected  by  the  voting 
members  of  the  church  in  Massachusetts,  and  inasmuch 
“as  church  members  only  could  become  freemen  and  hence 
voters  in  town  affairs,  this  was  practically  equivalent  to 
the  election  of  a  minister  by  the  town  in  those  towns  of  the 
province  which  still  had  but  one  church.  ” 3  In  such  cases 
the  parochial  business  was  transacted  at  town  meetings, 
any  given  meeting  commonly  being  engaged  with  both 
parish  and  town  affairs,  carried  out  under  the  same  forms 
of  procedure.4  Where  a  church  had  settled  a  minister  it 
was  liable  for  his  salary,  even  though  there  might  be  in 
the  town  other  religious  societies,  the  members  of  which 
might  be  exempted  by  law  from  contributing  to  his 
support.5 

This  ancient  conception  of  the  territorial  parish  as  a 
legal  organization  has  disappeared  in  New  England,  and 
probably  everywhere  else  in  this  country,  but  traces  of  it 
are  still  to  be  found  in  the  dual  organization  of  church  and 
parish  which  persists  in  some  places.  In  this  dual  organiza¬ 
tion  the  church  consists  of  persons  who  have  been  admitted 
to  church  membership  and  who  have  the  right  to  call  the 
minister ;  the  parish  consists  of  members  of  the  congregation 
who  have  signed  the  parish-book  and  who  control  the  tem¬ 
poral  affairs  of  the  establishment,  but  who  also  have  the 
right  to  approve  or  reject  the  minister  nominated  by  the 
church.  This  dual  organization,  which  still  prevails  in  a 
good  many  old  New  England  churche4s,  is  a  thoroughly 
undesirable  one,  leading  to  confusion,  controversy  and 
inefficiency,  and  should  be  done  away  with.  It  is  often  no 
easy  matter  to  solve  the  legal  tangle  in  which  most  churches 
so  organized  eventually  find  themselves,  each  case  requiring 
special  consideration  and  expert  advice.  A  solution  can  be 
found  in  most  cases,  however,  where  there  is  good  will  and 
a  sincere  desire  to  reorganize  the  church  on  a  modern  basis. 

8  Reed,  1 1  Church  and  State  in  Massachusetts. 1 1 

4  Mass.  Digest,  Vol.  VI,  col.  12735. 

0  Mass.  Digest,  Vol.  VI,  col.  12736. 


THE  LEGAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  39 


Both  competent  legal  counsel,  and  the  advice  of  wise 
denominational  officers,  are  essential. 

(b)  The  corporation  sole. 

The  corporation  sole  is  a  legal  entity  consisting  of  one 
person  at  a  time  who  is  vested  with  duties  and  privileges 
which  pass  to  his  successor  when  appointed — thus  in  Eng¬ 
land  the  king,  as  such,  is  a  corporation  sole.6  So,  also,  in 
England,  clergymen  in  some  instances  may,  by  virtue  of 
their  position,  be  in  possession  of  lands  or  property,  and 
therefore  corporations  sole.  The  corporation  sole  in  a  mod¬ 
ernized  form  is  occasionally  found  in  this  country  in  cases 
where  a  minister  may  hold  parsonage  lands  in  fee  simple, 
or  in  Episcopally  organized  churches  in  which  a  bishop 
may  hold  properties  assigned  to  his  use  or  control  by  virtue 
of  his  office.  He  may,  for  example,  hold  the  title  to  the 
property  of  some  particular  local  church.  This  would 
appear  to  be  an  undesirable  arrangement,  even  in  an  auto¬ 
cratically  governed  church,  save  under  quite  exceptional 
circumstances. 

(c)  The  “ trustee  corporation.” 

In  this  form  of  corporation  the  body  of  trustees,  as  such, 
may  be  incorporated  by  special  charter,  or  under  a  general 
statute.  They  then  own  and  manage  the  property  for  the 
benefit  of  the  church,  though  they  need  not  be  members  of 
the  church,  or  may  even  be  excommunicated  from  it. 
Every  contract  of  the  society,  to  be  legally  binding  on  the 
corporation,  must  be  made  or  ratified  by  the  trustees,  who 
thus  have  a  veto  power  over  the  society’s  actions.  This 
form  of  incorporation  is  often  found  in  churches  of  Pres¬ 
byterian  organization.  It  tends  to  conservative  manage¬ 
ment  and  to  maintenance  of  the  status  quo,  being  rigid 
and  inflexible.  Where  ministers  complain  of  difficulties 
with  church  trustees  they  generally  refer  to  churches  thus 
organized. 

(d)  The  corporation  aggregate. 

This  is  the  commonest  and  simplest  form  of  modern 
church  incorporation,  by  which  the  title  to  whatever  prop- 

a  Zollman,  op.  cit.,  p.  43. 


40 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


erty  the  church  possesses  is  vested  in  the  whole  body 
corporate.  This  body  is  composed  of  all  those  persons  who 
have  complied  with  the  terms  of  membership,  as  defined  in 
the  statutes  governing  church  bodies,  or  in  the  by-laws 
of,the  church  society,  which  must  not,  however,  conflict  with 
the  statute.  In  such  corporations  the  officers  of  the  society, 
though  often  called  trustees,  are  not  such  legally,  since  they 
do  not  hold  the  property  in  trust  for  the  society,  but  are 
in  reality  directors,  like  the  directors  of  a  bank,  being 
merely  the  agents  of  the  society.  This  is  the  most  demo¬ 
cratic  form  of  church  incorporation,  and  is  best  adapted 
to  autonomous  bodies. 

The  by-laws  of  the  society. 

The  by-laws  should  be  drawn  in  accord  with  the  laws  of 
the  state  in  which  the  society  is  located.  Where  they  do 
not  agree  the  statutes  prevail.  Many  churches  operate 
under  antiquated  by-laws,  or  without  due  regard  to  their 
provisions.  Such  procedure  is  liable  to  end  in  disaster. 
Therefore  every  church  should  occasionally  overhaul  its 
by-laws,  under  legal  advice,  to  make  sure  that  they  are 
adequate  and  in  accord  with  the  state  law. 

Church  membership. 

Membership  in  the  church  does  not  necessarily  carry 
with  it  the  right  to  vote.  For  example,  some  churches  may 
admit  to  membership  young  people  who  are  still  minors 
and  are  therefore  disqualified.  On  the  other  hand,  in  some 
churches  persons  who  are  not  members  may  nevertheless 
have  a  vote,  as  in  the  case  of  pew-owners  in  a  proprietary 
church — a  thoroughly  undesirable  situation  which  should 
be  rectified  when  opportunity  permits. 

Broadly  speaking,  however,  membership  carries  with  it 
the  right  to  vote,  providing  certain  conditions  as  to  resi¬ 
dence,  church  attendance,  financial  contribution,  and  ac¬ 
ceptance  into  the  membership  of  the  church  have  been 
fulfilled.  These  conditions  vary  widely  in  different  denom¬ 
inations  and  states,  so  that  no  universal  rule  can  be  laid 
down.  The  right  to  vote  is  governed  by  the  church  by¬ 
laws,  and  by  statute  law,  which  prevails  in  case  of  conflict. 


THE  LEGAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  41 


Generally  that  right  is  limited  to  persons  of  full  age,  who 
have  statedly  worshiped  with  the  church  for  one  year  next 
preceding  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society,  and  who  have 
either  regularly  contributed  to  its  financial  support  or 
been  publicly  received  into  its  membership  in  the  pre¬ 
scribed  manner.  Church  officers  should  be  acquainted  with 
the  law  of  the  state  in  this  matter,  and  the  church  by-laws 
should  be  amended,  if  necessary,  to  accord  therewith.  In 
view  of  the  bitter  controversies  and  the  legal  entangle¬ 
ments  which  may  arise  from  disputes  over  the  legality  of 
a  vote,  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  the  voting-lists  of 
the  church  should  be  accurately  kept  up. 

The  by-laws  should  always  contain  a  provision,  in  accord 
with  the  statute,  for  the  dismissal  and  the  expulsion  of 
members.  No  person  can  be  expelled  from  church  member¬ 
ship  without  due  notice  being  served  upon  him,  or  without 
an  opportunity  for  a  hearing.  There  must  be  adequate 
reasons  for  the  proposed  action.  For  example,  mere  failure 
to  make  financial  contribution  is  not  legal  ground  for 
expulsion. 

The  governing  board  of  the  church.1 

The  governing  board  of  the  church,  whether  known  as 
wardens  and  vestry,  board  of  trustees,  prudential  com¬ 
mittee,  standing  committee,  or  by  some  other  title,  is  elected 
by  the  voting  members  of  the  church,  to  whom  it  is  respon¬ 
sible.  The  method  of  organizing  such  a  governing  board 
is  sometimes  prescribed,  within  wide  limits,  by  statute,  but 
is  more  generally  determined  by  the  by-laws  of  the  church 
itself.  The  best  form  of  organization  is  one  which  provides 
for  a  board  of  moderate  size — not  less  than  seven,  or  more 
than  fifteen  persons — elected  at  annual  meetings  of  the 
society  for  limited  terms,  so  that  a  part  of  the  board  goes 
out  of  office  each  year.  The  most  convenient  method  is  to 
divide  the  board  into  three  groups,  elected  for  three  years 
each,  so  that  one-third  of  the  board  goes  out  of  office  each 
year.  Such  an  arrangement  will  secure  sufficient  conti¬ 
nuity  of  policy  and  yet  will  offer  opportunity  for  the 
annual  infusion  of  new  blood  into  the  board.  Both  men 

7  See  Zollman,  op.  tit.,  Chap.  XIII. 


42 


THE  MINISTER  AND  IIIS  PARISH 


and  women  should  be  eligible.  Where  the  church  is  suf¬ 
ficiently  large  to  provide  a  considerable  number  of  suitable 
candidates  for  the  board,  provision  may  be  made  that  no 
person  shall  be  eligible  for  reelection  until  at  least  one  year 
has  elapsed  after  he  has  gone  out  of  office.  Such  a  pro¬ 
vision  greatly  simplifies  the  problem  of  eliminating  from 
the  board  members  who  have  become  superannuated,  or 
whom,  for  one  or  another  reason,  it  is  desirable  to  super¬ 
sede. 

The  board  is  charged  with  the  management  of  the 
church  property.  The  amount  of  real  estate  and  of  endow¬ 
ment  funds  which  the  church  may  hold  is  generally  limited 
by  law.  In  some  states,  in  which  the  amounts  were  fixed 
many  years  ago,  there  are  no  doubt  many  churches  which 
today  actually  do  hold  lands  or  endowments  much  in 
excess  of  the  legal  limits.  In  such  states  legislation  should 
be  sought  to  fix  new  limits  which  will  meet  the  needs  of 
modern  society.  In  law  every  religious  society  is  a 
“charity,”  holding  its  property  for  the  benefit  of  the  com¬ 
munity.  If  it  is.  disbanded  the  property  may  not  be  divided 
among  the  church  members,  but  is  subject  to  disposition 
by  court  action.  The  board  should  hold  regularly  called 
meetings  for  the  transaction  of  its  business,  at  least  as  often 
as  once  a  quarter,  preferably  every  month,  except  during 
vacation  periods.  It  cannot  properly  transact  business  at 
informal  or  impromptu  meetings,  except  in  emergencies,  in 
wdiich  cases  its  action  should  be  formally  ratified  at  its 
next  regular  meeting.  The  board  should  also  keep  a  full 
record  of  its  proceedings,  and  it  must  be  prepared  to  report 
its  doings  to  the  society  for  which  it  acts. 

The  board  may  “bind  the  body  upon  all  contracts  within 
the  scope  of  its  corporate  powers,  ’  ’ 8  but  if  it  goes  beyond 
those  powers  the  individual  members  of  the  board  become 
responsible  for  the  contract.  It  has  power  to  transact  the 
ordinary  business  of  the  church,  but  the  authority  to  call 
or  dismiss  a  minister,  and  to  fix  his  salary,  rests  with  the 
society,  nor  can  the  board  authorize  any  extraordinary 
expenditures  without  vote  of  the  society.  It  is  highly  im¬ 
portant  that  the  board  should  carefully  conform  to  the 
8Zollman,  op .  tit.,  p.  375. 


THE  LEGAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  43 


requirements  of  the  statutes  and  the  church  by-laws 
governing  its  action  that  it  may  avoid  any  shadow  of 
illegality  on  its  proceedings. 

The  church  officers. 

These  usually  include  the  chairman  and  secretary  of  the 
board,  and  the  treasurer  of  the  church.  They  may  be 
elected  by  the  society  itself,  generally  for  a  one-year-term, 
or  the  by-laws  may  provide  that  the  board,  after  its  elec¬ 
tion  by  the  society,  shall  choose  its  officers  for  the  year 
from  among  its  members.  They  have  the  usual  duties  of 
such  officers,  and  are  responsible  also  for  the  preservation 
of  order  at  religious  services  and  at  business  meetings,  with 
authority  to  remove  offenders  against  good  order,  though 
they  may  use  no  greater  force  than  is  necessary  for  the 
purpose.  It  is  obvious  that  they  should  be  representative 
men  and  women  in  whom  the  parish  has  confidence.  When 
the  secretary  and  treasurer  are  satisfactory,  it  is  advanta¬ 
geous  to  have  them  serve  for  considerable  periods,  but  the 
practice  of  an  indefinite  term  of  office  is  so  undesirable  that 
it  is  wise  to  adopt  a  by-law  providing  for  a  slow  rotation 
of  office,  even  though  that  means  that  occasionally  some 
particularly  valuable  officer  becomes  ineligible  for  reflec¬ 
tion.  Otherwise  there  is  always  danger  that  some  person 
will  hold  on  to  his  post  year  after  year,  although  the  wel¬ 
fare  of  the  church  calls  for  his  retirement.  To  get  rid  of 
such  a  person  without  a  controlling  by-law  is  always  a 
delicate  and  difficult  matter. 

It  is  better  that  the  treasurer  should  be  bonded,  even 
though  this  involves  some  inconvenience.  It  is  essential 
that  he  be  a  man  of  thorough  probity,  acquainted  with 
accounting  methods,  but  the  men  who  are  themselves  in 
charge  of  large  business  affairs  do  not  necessarily  make 
the  best  church  treasurers.  The  church  business  is  likely 
to  seem  a  small  matter  to  them,  to  be  handed  over  to  a 
clerk  to  look  after  in  his  spare  time.  A  man  in  a  small 
business,  if  he  be  conscientious  and  painstaking,  is  more 
likely  to  prove  efficient.  In  a  considerable  church  the 
treasurer  should  have  an  allowance  for  clerk  hire  j  in  a 
very  large  church  he  may  be  a  salaried  officer. 


44 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  conduct  of  parish  meetings . 

It  is  essential  that  all  business  meetings  of  the  society, 
whether  the  annual  meeting  or  those  called  for  some  special 
purpose,  should  be  conducted  in  accordance  with  both  the 
statutes  governing  church  corporations  and  the  by-laws  of 
the  society  itself.  First  of  all,  a  legal  call  for  the  meeting 
must  be  issued,  in  due  season,  to  all  voting  members,  by 
notice  posted  in  the  prescribed  form  at  the  church  door, 
or  sent  through  the  mails,  as  may  be  required.  Such 
notice  must  state  the  business  to  be  brought  before  the 
meeting.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  secretary  to  see  that  such 
notice  is  properly  given.  “Objection  to  the  invalidity  of 
a  call  may  not,  however,  be  made  by  an  outsider,  nor  by  a 
member  of  the  society  except  at  the  time  of  the  meeting.  ’  ’ 9 

Second,  the  secretary  should  have  at  the  meeting  an 
accurate  list  of  all  persons  entitled  to  vote,  so  that  a 
prompt  decision  may  be  made  if  the  right  of  any  voter  is 
challenged,  but  it  is  not  necessary  that  this  list  should  be 
read  at  the  beginning  of  the  meeting,  as  under  ordinary 
circumstances  no  question  as  to  the  vote  is  likely  to  arise. 

In  the  third  place,  the  parish  meeting  must  be  conducted 
by  the  chairman  with  due  regard  to  parliamentary  law. 
Motions  must  be  properly  made,  seconded,  and  put  to  the 
vote.  Except  in  matters  where  there  is  general  accord  the 
chairman  should  require  the  motion  to  be  put  in  writing 
and  should  have  it  read  aloud  before  the  vote  is  taken.  A 
strict  adherence  to  rules  requires  the  minutes  to  be  written 
out  and  read  to  the  meeting  before  adjournment,  but  this 
is  ordinarily  dispensed  with  when  there  is  full  confidence 
in  the  secretary  and  no  serious  dispute  in  the  transaction 
of  business.  If  the  meeting,  however,  has  been  much 
divided,  such  approval  of  the  minutes  before  the  meeting 
adjourns  may  prevent  a  later  controversy  as  to  their 
accuracy. 


9  Zollman,  op.  tit.,  p.  365. 


.  CHAPTER  IV 


THE  WORKING  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 

The  church’s  field  of  service. 

The  work  of  most  churches  may  conveniently  be  divided 
into  seven  fields,  namely,  the  conduct  of  worship,  religious 
education,  pastoral  care,  missionary  interests,  community 
service,  social  activities,  and  business  administration.  The 
degree  of  emphasis  on  these  several  activities  will  vary 
greatly  in  different  parishes,  but  each  activity  is  repre¬ 
sented  in  some  degree  in  every  church  which  is  fulfilling 
all  its  normal  functions.  The  conduct  of  worship  is,  of 
course,  the  primary  function  of  the  church,  upon  which  all 
its  other  activities  depend,  and  without  which  it  soon  ceases 
to  be  a  church  at  all.  The  business  administration  of  the 
church  exists  only  to  sustain  and  make  possible  the  other 
activities.  The  most  successful  church  is  not  necessarily 
that  which  has  the  largest  membership  or  commands  most 
wealth,  but  rather  that  in  which  all  these  several  fields  of 
service  are  so  thoroughly  organized  and  interrelated  that 
the  members  constitute  a  harmonious  working  fellowship 
for  the  promotion  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of 
the  community. 

The  minister  as  (directing  head. 

The  minister  has  primary  responsibility  for  the  conduct 
of  worship,  the  pastoral  duties,  and  such  religious  educa¬ 
tion  as  the  church  undertakes.  But  he  is  also  the  general 
administrative  head  of  the  whole  enterprise,  with  respon¬ 
sibility  for  framing  the  policies  to  be  pursued  and  for 
persuading  the  governing  board  and  the  society  to  adopt 
them.  With  some  exceptions,  he  must  also  recruit  the 
working  staff  of  the  church,  though  in  certain  cases  he  must 

45 


46 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


secure  the  assent  of  other  persons.  The  exceptions  are  the 
employment  of  the  sexton,  who  is  usually  engaged  by  the 
grounds  and  buildings  committee,  and  the  organist  and 
choir,  who  are  usually  engaged  by  the  music  committee,  in 
both  cases  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  governing  board. 
The  minister  should,  however,  also  be  consulted,  to  make 
sure  that  the  candidates  for  these  positions  are  acceptable 
to  him.  The  minister  has  no  power  definitely  to  engage  any 
other  paid  worker  for  the  church,  such  as  an  office  secre¬ 
tary,  Sunday-School  teacher,  parish  assistant,  or  assistant 
minister,  unless  specially  authorized  to  act  as  agent  for  the 
governing  board,  but  it  is  customary  for  him  to  select  such 
assistants,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  board..  In  the 
selection  of  volunteer  workers  he  is  usually  given  a  free 
hand,  and  often  must  act  on  his  own  initiative  if  he  is  to 
get  any  helpers  at  all,  but  if  he  is  wise  he  will  consult  in 
advance  either  the  officers  of  the  church  or  the  standing 
committee  which  has  charge  of  each  particular  field  of 
work.  Thus  in  choosing  his  Sunday-School  teachers  he 
ought,  if  only  as  a  matter  of  courtesy,  to  consult  the  Sun¬ 
day-School  committee  before  making  appointments. 

So  far  as  possible  the  minister  should  be  relieved  from 
the  burden  of  detailed  administrative  chores,  which  should 
be  turned  over  to  the  various  parish  committees  or  to  a 
salaried  staff.  Most  Protestant  churches  in  this  country 
are  still  run  on  a  one-man  basis  inherited  from  a  very  sim¬ 
ple  social  order,  the  minister  being  expected  to  fulfill  single- 
handed  the  offices  of  preacher,  pastor,  and  administrator. 
That  was  possible  for  the  minister  in  the  village  or  country 
life  of  seventeenth-century  England,  such  as  is  described  in 
Baxter’s  “ Reformed  Pastor”  or  Herbert’s  “Country 
Parson,”  or  such  as  prevailed  in  the  eighteenth  and  early 
nineteenth  century  in  this  country.  But  the  modern  social 
order  is  immensely  more  complex,  geared  to  a  far  higher 
speed,  imposing  indefinitely  heavier  burdens  upon  the  min¬ 
ister.  Very  few  men  can  regularly  preach  well,  keep  in 
constant  touch  with  their  whole  parish  as  counselor  and 
friend,  and  also  be  thoroughly  efficient  in  administration, 
if  loaded  down  with  petty  details. 

A  church  must  take  its  choice.  If  it  wants  good  preach- 


WORKING  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  47 


ing  and  faithful  pastoral  service  it  must  give  its  minister 
time  for  reading  and  thought,  and  for  unhurried,  friendly 
intercourse  with  his  people.  To  that  end  it  must  relieve 
him,  so  far  as  possible,  from  the  drudgery  that  an  office 
clerk  could  do  as  well,  or  better.  To  leave  him  to  keep 
up  the  church  records  and  files,  to  write  his  correspond¬ 
ence  and  his  sermons  with  his  own  hand,  to  lay  out  all  the 
church  work  unaided,  is  very  poor  economy,  since  it  means 
wasting  the  time  of  a  trained  expert.  The  minister  in  a 
country  parish  may  have  the  time  for  such  details,  and  it 
may*  be  impossible  to  secure  for  him  any  paid  assistance, 
but  that  ought  not  to  be  the  case  in  any  moderate-sized 
town,  much  less  in  a  considerable  city.  Even  in  a  town  of 
a  few  thousand  people  the  grocer  or  the  dry-goods  mer¬ 
chant  will  employ  several  clerks,  but  the  grocer’s  and  the 
merchant’s  minister,  with  a  parish  of  several  hundred 
souls,,  will  be  left  to  carry  his  burden  unassisted.  The 
most  modest  lawyer’s  office  has  at  least  a  stenographer  to 
write  letters  and  to  answer  the  telephone.  The  lawyer 
does  not  dream  of  writing  out  his  briefs  with  his  own  hand, 
but  dictates  them,  corrects  the  drafts  and  has  them  retyped 
for  him.  Yet  often  the  lawyer  cannot  see  why  the  minister 
should  need  a  stenographer,  though  he  has  perhaps  as  much 
correspondence  to  keep  up,  and  could  save  a  great  deal  of 
valuable  time  by  learning  to  dictate  his  sermons,  to  be 
rewritten  in  a  fair  copy  after  revision. 

This  shortsighted  and  antiquated  policy  is  at  least  a  par¬ 
tial  explanation  of  the  lamentable  inefficiency  of  many 
Protestant  churches.  The  minister  is  compelled  to  work 
with  eighteenth-century  tools  instead  of  being  given  a 
twentieth-century  equipment.  Roman  Catholic  parishes 
offer  a  suggestive  contrast.  A  single  example,  recently 
called  to  the  writer’s  attention,  will  suffice.  In  a  certain 
New  England  town  stands  the  First  Church,  a  fine  old 
meeting-house  capable  of  seating  several  hundred  people. 
The  building  is  open  on  Sundays  only,  and,  except  for  the 
sexton  and  the  organist,  the  minister  carries  on  the  work 
alone,  save  for  volunteer  assistance.  But  the  Roman  Catho¬ 
lic  church  in  the  next  block  has  a  staff  of  twenty-seven  paid 
workers,  who  keep  the  church  constantly  in  full  activity. 


48 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


It  is  like  a  ship  fully  manned,  able  to  take  advantage  of 
every  wind  and  tide,  whereas  the  Protestant  church  is  like 
a  vessel  which  must  slowly  pick  its  way  under  shortened 
sail  because  its  crew  is  too  small  properly  to  work  the  ship. 

The  paid  staff. 

Every  minister  in  such  a  church  should  be  provided 
with  an  office  secretary — a  stenographer  to  attend  to  the 
correspondence  and  the  files — and  a  parish  assistant,  whose 
primary  business  is  to  take  charge  of  the  Sunday-School, 
under  the  minister’s  direction,  and  to  do  much  of  the  other 
administrative  work  of  the  church.  In  a  larger  church 
there  will  also  be  more  than  one  minister.  The  work  should 
be  carefully  divided  among  them,  each  having  a  permanent 
and  distinct  field  with  no  overlapping,  and  the  clergy  staff 
should  be  regarded  as  partners  associated  in  a  common 
enterprise,  the  senior  minister  being  the  directing  head, 
rather  than  the  employer  of  a  group  of  office  boys.1 

Volunteer  workers. 

In  any  church,  however,  much  of  the  work  will  inevitably 
fall  to  volunteer  workers,  and  this  is  right,  for  such  work, 
is  one  of  their  opportunities  for  Christian  service.  The 
minister  will  ordinarily  select  the  personnel,  seek  to  inspire 
them  with  his  ideals,  and  strive  to  hold  them  to  a  faithful 
performance  of  their  duties.  It  is  often  difficult  to  per¬ 
suade  the  right  people  to  serve,  and  volunteers  are  more 
difficult  to  control  and  direct,  even  when  they  are 
thoroughly  conscientious,  since  they  feel  more  free  to  ab¬ 
sent  themselves  from  dutjq  more  easily  take  offense  than  do 
paid  employees,  and,  even  with  the  best  intentions,  lack  the 
technique  of  the  trained  worker.  Success  with  them  lies 
in  developing  esprit  de  corps ,  pride  in  their  work,  and  a 
realization  of  their  value  to  the  church. 

1  See  1 1  The  Administration  of  an  Institutional  Church, 1 1 
Hodges  and  Reichert,  section  on  The  Staff,  pp.  3-12,  for  a  de¬ 
scription  of  the  duties  of  assistant  clergy  in  a  highly  organized 
church. 


WORKING  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  49 


The  standing  committees. 

In  most  churches,  besides  the  governing  board,  there  will 
be  certain  standing  committees,  elected  annually  by  the 
parish.  These  are  likely  to  be  a  committee  on  grounds  and 
buildings,2  a  music  committee,3  a  committee  on  benevolences 
and  missions,  a  membership  committee,  a  social-service  com¬ 
mittee,  a  Sunday-School  committee,  and  a  hospitality  or 
visiting  committee.4  Care  should  be  taken  to  define  clearly 
the  work  and  authority  of  all  committees,  so  that  they  shall 
not  overlap.  As  many  different  people  as  possible  should 
be  enlisted  for  service,  so  that  no  one  person  shall  be  over¬ 
loaded.  All  committees  should  be  expected  to  report  in 
writing  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  parish.  There  will 
probably  also  be  separate  organizations  of  the  women,  the 
men,  and  the  young  people.  It  is  not  advisable  for  the 
minister  to  be  on  all  these  committees,  though  he  may  sit 
with  them  when  occasion  arises,  but  he  should  always  be 
a  member  of  the  committees  on  membership,  benevolence, 
and  the  Sunday-School,  and  perhaps  on  social  service. 

The  young  people  should  be  drafted  into  service  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  first  to  usher  or  take  the  collection  or 
to  look  after  the  flowers  on  the  pulpit ;  then  into  the  Sun¬ 
day-School  as  teachers,  and  as  members  of  the  various  com¬ 
mittees.  From  the  committees  the  most  valuable  workers 
can  be  drafted  on  to  the  governing  board.  Both  the  board 
and  the  committees  should  be  representative  of  the  church 
as  a  whole,  and  by  rotation  of  office  new  and  young  blood 
should  be  annually  infused  into  the  organization. 

The  educational  work  of  the  church. 

The  church  must  always  exercise  a  teaching  function, 
both  from  the  pulpit  and  in  the  Sunday-School.  In  a  small 
church  the  minister  may  have  to  take  charge  of  the  church 
school,  but  this  should  be  avoided  when  possible.  If  the 
school  comes  immediately  before  the  morning  service,  the 
minister  enters  the  pulpit  having  already  expended  his  first 

2  See  pp.  63-65,  91-92. 

8  See  Chap.  XI. 

4  See  Chap.  XIII. 


50 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


strength  and  freshness;  if  it  follows  the  service  he  must 
hurry  from  the  pulpit  to  the  Sunday-School  room,  with 
scant  time  to  see  people  who  want  to  talk  with  him.  There¬ 
fore,  the  Sunday-School  should  be  run  by  the  parish  assist¬ 
ant,  or  by  some  other  person  as  superintendent,  though 
the  minister  will  do  well  to  take  part  occasionally,  if  not 
habitually,  in  either  the  opening  or  the  closing  service,  and 
he  should  teach  the  senior  class  of  boys  and  girls,  at  least 
as  they  approach  the  time  of  confirmation.  This  is  an 
opportunity  which  he  should  never  willingly  relinquish  to 
others.  He  should  also  take  charge  of  the  week-night 
teachers’  meeting  for  instruction  and  counsel,  and  should 
confer  frequently  with  the  parish  assistant  regarding  prob¬ 
lems  which  arise. 

The  social  life  of  the  church. 

No  church  should  ever  be  thought  of  as  an  ecclesiastical 
club,  ’where  people  of  one  social  group  gather  for  the  sat¬ 
isfaction  of  their  own  souls,  but  rather  as  a  household  of 
faith,  where  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  people  of  many 
varied  walks  in  life,  come  together  for  the  upbuilding  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  easier  to  bring  about  religious 
fellowship  than  social  intermingling  in  such  a  varied 
group,  especially  in  large  cities,  where  many  people  find 
their  social  life  entirely  outside  of  the  churches.  Never¬ 
theless  the  social  life  of  the  church  may  mean  much  not 
only  to  the  lonely  stranger  but  to  long-established  members 
of  the  church.  The  hospitality  or  visiting  committee  should 
be  active  in  welcoming  newcomers.  Parish  suppers,  church 
fairs,  club  gatherings,  young  people’s  dances  or  dramatic 
performances,  where  permitted,  should  be  utilized  for  the 
incorporation  of  newcomers  into  the  life  of  the  church.  All 
such  occasions  should  be  managed  with  complete  disregard 
of  social  distinctions  or  class  lines,  which  have  no  place  in 
church  life.  To  that  end  it  is  better  to  have  the  social 
gatherings  of  the  parish  in  the  parish  house,  or  in  the  par¬ 
sonage  if  its  accommodations  permit,  rather  than  at  the 
private  house  of  some  wealthy  parishioner,  to  which  the 
poorer  people  of  the  parish  may  hesitate  to  go,  feeling  that 
they  do  not  belong  to  the  owner’s  “social  set.”  In  every 


WORKING  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  51 


case  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  the  impression  that  the 
aim  is  merely  to  have  a  good  time,  the  true  purpose  being 
to  serve  some  end  in  the  church  life. 

Social  service. 

The  church  itself  may  not  be  engaged  directly  in  any 
form  of  organized  social  service  for  the  community,  but  it 
is  bound  to  make  an  indirect  contribution  thereto,  through 
the  activities  of  some  of  its  members,  and  should  be  kept 
informed  of  the  work  of  social-welfare  agencies  in  the  com¬ 
munity.  The  social-service  committee  should  therefore 
include  such  members  of  the  church  as  are  best  informed 
upon  these  matters,  so  that  it  may  serve  as  a  medium  of 
communication  between  the  church  and  the  community. 

The  part  which  the  minister  takes  in  such  matters  will 
depend  greatly  upon  his  capacities  and  interests,  as  well 
as  upon  local  conditions.  An  able  and  public-spirited  min¬ 
ister,  especially  if  long  settled,  will  often  become  a  coun¬ 
selor-at-large  to  the  community,  in  which  nothing  of  public 
importance  will  be  done  without  his  knowledge  and  advice. 
This  is  an  enviable  position  for  him  to  occupy,  with  large 
possibilities  of  public  service.  Such  general  use  of  his  in¬ 
fluence  is  wiser  than  an  undue  expenditure  of  his  time  and 
strength  upon  the  details  of  particular  forms  of  community 
work.  He  may  profitably  give  the  initiatory  impulse  to 
many  a  helpful  activity,  but  he  w7ill  do  well  to  transfer  the 
active  management  to  other  hands  at  an  early  date. 

The  parish  as  a  cooperative  enterprise. 

In  the  ideal  parish  every  member  will  feel  his  responsi¬ 
bility  for  the  welfare  of  his  church,  and  will  make  what 
contribution  he  can  towards  its  corporate  life.  Every  mem¬ 
ber  should  give  according  to  his  means,  no  matter  how 
small,  but  the  full  privileges  of  the  church  life  should  be 
equally  open  to  all  members  regardless  of  the  size  of  their 
respective  contributions.  He  should  also  bear  in  mind  his 
obligation  to  give  of  his  time  and  service,  as  well  as  of 
means,  and  should  count  habitual  attendance  at  worship 
as  part  of  such  contribution. 

Cooperation  with  the  minister  is  also  essential  to  the 


52 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


success  of  the  enterprise.  When  a  new  minister  comes  the 
members  can,  if  they  will,  do  much  to  introduce  him  prop¬ 
erly  to  the  community  by  seeing  that  he  has  opportunities 
to  appear  or  to  speak  at  public  meetings.  They  should 
publicly  give  their  moral  support  to  the  work  which  their 
church  is  doing.  They  should  keep  the  minister  informed 
as  to  the  names  and  addresses  of  newcomers  on  whom  he 
should  call;  of  cases  of  illness,  accident,  or  misfortune 
among  his  parishioners,  instead  of  leaving  him  to  learn  of 
them  in  roundabout  ways;  and  they  should  notify  him 
promptly  of  changes  of  address,  so  that  the  parish  lists 
may  be  kept  up  to  date,  and  the  minister  saved  perhaps 
miles  of  walking  to  call  upon  people  who  have  moved  with¬ 
out  leaving  an  address  behind.  The  parish  which  remem¬ 
bers  to  do  all  these  things  has  attained  to  an  efficient 
organization. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  PARISH  RECORDS 

The  value  of  parish  records . 

The  parish  registers  of  the  Church  of  England  originated 
from  an  order  promulgated  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  Henry 
VIII,  1538,  requiring  churches  to  keep  a  register  of  bap¬ 
tisms.  When  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne  in  1558  the  or¬ 
der  was  reaffirmed,  and  the  registers  were  made  to  include 
marriages  and  burials  as  well.  Canon  70,  of  the  canons 
of  the  Church  of  England,  in  1603  laid  down  a  still  more 
detailed  rule  on  the  subject,  modified  in  detail  only  since 
that  date.  Most  old  parishes  in  England,  therefore,  possess 
registers  of  baptisms,  marriages  and  burials  going  back  to 
the  beginning  of  Elizabeth’s  reign.  These  English  parish 
registers  are  of  incalculable  historic  and  legal  value.  To 
take  but  one  example :  we  should  probably  be  ignorant  of 
the  date  of  William  Shakespeare’s  birth  were  it  not  for 
the  register  of  the  parish  church  at  Stratford-on-Avon, 
which  contains  the  record  of  his  baptism  on  April  26, 
1564.  As  it  was  the  custom  at  that  time  to  baptize  chil¬ 
dren  when  they  were  about  three  days  old  his  birth  is  com¬ 
monly  reckoned  as  occurring  on  April  23,  1564.  In  this 
country  the  registration  of  marriages  is  included  in  the 
town-  or  county  records,  as  are  now  also  the  registrations 
of  births  and  deaths  in  the  better  organized  communities, 
so  that  the  legal  importance  of  church  records  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  day  is  much  less  than  was  the  case  in  England.  Never¬ 
theless  occasions  not  infrequently  arise  when  the  evidence 
which  they  have  to  offer  is  of  legal  value,  and,  in  the  case 
of  our  older  churches,  the  records  often  contain  informatidn 
for  historians  and  genealogists  which  cannot  elsewhere  be 
found. 


63 


54 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  records  of  the  trustees  and  of  the  business  meetings 
of  the  church,  and  the  lists  of  voting  members,  are  of  even 
greater  importance  for  the  legal  organization  of  the  church 
and  in  securing  title  to  its  property.  In  spite  of  this  fact 
there  are  few  matters  of  parish  administration  about  which 
the  average  Protestant  church  is  more  lax  and  careless 
than  in  the  proper  keeping  of  its  records.  Especially  is 
this  the  case  where  there  is  no  centralized  authority  in  the 
person  of  a  bishop  to  put  pressure  upon  the  minister  or 
the  church  officers  to  fulfill  their  duty  in  this  matter.  In 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  the  priest  is  under  obligation 
to  keep  in  a  safe  place  the  registers  of  baptisms,  marriages, 
confirmations  and  funerals  conducted  in  his  parish  church, 
as  well  as  a  complete  collection  of  all  the  documents  relat¬ 
ing  to  the  church  or  mission  and  a  file  of  all  pastorals  and 
other  communications  coming  from  his  bishop,  and  neglect 
of  this  duty  is  certain  to  call  forth  censure  when  the  bishop 
makes  his  visitation.  In  most  Protestant  bodies,  however, 
the  responsibility  for  the  proper  keeping  of  records  rests 
wholly  upon  the  individual  parish.  If  the  church  officers 
are  careless  valuable  records  are  liable  to  be  lost.  If  the 
minister  is  negligent  the  parish  registers  are  liable  to  fall 
into  arrears,  though  the  fact  may  not  come  to  light  for 
years.  Often  old  and  important  churches  will  show  bad 
gaps  in  their  records,  especially  in  the  registers  of  chris¬ 
tenings,  marriages,  and  funerals.  Generally  such  gaps 
occur  between  pastorates,  but  every  now  and  then  there  is 
a  minister  who  simply  neglects  to  enter  such  services  in  the 
books,  perhaps  over  a  period  of  several  years,  and  who 
dies  or  goes  away  leaving  behind  him  this  sin  of  omission 
to  testify  to  future  generations  as  to  his  neglect  of  duty. 

The  records  as  church  property. 

All  the  parish  records  are  the  property  of  the  church, 
except  the  minister’s  private  record  book,  which  will  be 
discussed  hereafter.  The  minister  and  church  officers 
should  realize  that  they  hold  these  books  in  trust,  and  that 
they  are  under  obligation  to  keep  them  in  a  safe  place,  and 
to  see  that  all  entries  are  promptly  and  accurately  made. 
The  books  or  files  should  not  be  left  in  the  hands  of 


THE  PARISH  RECORDS 


55 


irresponsible  individuals,  or  stored  in  private  houses,  or  in 
business  offices.  There  are  many  instances  of  the  loss  of 
valuable  records  belonging  to  historic  churches  which  have 
been  left  in  the  keeping  of  some  private  individual,  and 
■which,  after  his  death,  have  been  lost  through  the  igno¬ 
rance  or  carelessness  of  his  heirs.  Old  records  which  are 
historically  valuable  and  which  cannot  be  replaced  should 
be  kept  in  a  fireproof  safe  or  deposited  in  the  town  library 
or  other  accessible  place,  instead  of  being  dumped  into  a 
trunk  in  some  out-of-the-way  corner  in  the  church  base¬ 
ment.  Current  records  should  be  kept  either  in  the  church 
office,  if  there  be  one,  or  in  the  minister’s  study,  or  in  the 
possession  of  the  church  officer  who  for  the  time  being  is 
responsible  for  them,  but  their  whereabouts  should  always 
be  known  to  more  than  one  person.  Neither  the  minister 
nor  church  officers  should  retain  the  parish  record  books 
or  files  after  ceasing  to  hold  office,  but  should  see  that  they 
are  deposited  in  safe  hands  to  be  turned  over  to  their  suc¬ 
cessors  in  office.  Inasmuch  as  these  records  are  church 
property,  the  church  should,  of  course,  meet  the  cost  of 
the  necessary  equipment.  Neither  the  minister  nor  an 
officer  of  the  church  should  be  expected  to  pay  out  of  his 
own  pocket  for  materials  which  are  in  fact  as  much  a  part 
of  the  equipment  of  the  church  as  the  hymn  books  or  the 
heating  plant.  In  some  states  the  law  requires  that  when 
a  church  is  disbanded  its  records  be  deposited  with  the 
town  clerk. 

The  materials  needed. 

The  necessary  record  books  should  be  made  of  a  good, 
durable  paper  and  substantially  bound,  and  there  should 
be  a  filing  cabinet  to  hold  books,  documents  and  correspond¬ 
ence,  and  card  catalogues  for  current  parish  lists.  The 
following  items  will  be  necessary  in  most  churches  for  the 
proper  keeping  of  the  records : 

{a)  A  record  book  in  which  should  be  entered  the  record 
of  all  business  meetings  of  the  parish  or  society.  If  there 
be  a  dual  organization,  as  in  some  old  New  England 
churches  in  which  the  “church”  and  the  “parish,”  or  the 
“proprietors”  and  the  “society,”  meet  separately,  there 


56 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


should  be  two  books,  one  for  each  body,  that  the  records 
may  be  kept  separate. 

(5)  A  record  book  for  all  meetings  for  the  board  of 
trustees,  wardens  and  vestry,  standing  committee,  or  what¬ 
ever  else  be  the  official  designation  of  the  governing  board 
of  the  church. 

(c)  A  book  for  the  treasurer  in  which  the  church  ac¬ 
counts  should  be  kept. 

( d )  A  record  book  or  file  for  each  permanent  organiza¬ 
tion  or  standing  committee  within  the  parish,  at  least  if  it 
handles  money.  Thus  the  Sunday-School  should  have  its 
own  records  of  receipts  and  expenditures,  attendance,  etc. 

(e)  A  register  in  which  should  be  entered  all  baptisms, 
marriages,  and  funerals  conducted  in  the  church.  In  a 
large  church  in  which  such  services  are  very  frequent  it  is 
often  better  to  have  three  different  books.  Some  churches 
use  printed  forms,  mounted  in  blocks,  for  these  special 
services,  either  of  their  own  devising,  or  procured  from  a 
denominational  publishing  house.  Where  such  forms  are 
used  they  may  be  treated  as  permanent  records  by  being 
pasted  into  a  book  arranged  for  that  purpose,  but  it  is  bet¬ 
ter  to  regard  them  merely  as  temporary  memoranda  and 
to  transfer  the  entries  in  chronological  order  to  blank 
books,  taking  care  to  use  a  good  ink  which  will  not  fade.  It 
is  important  that  the  record  should  give  all  the  necessary 
information,  and  it  is,  therefore,  desirable  that  a  standard 
form  be  used.  In  the  “Administration  of  an  Institutional 
Church”1  there  is  a  detailed  description  of  the  way  in 
which  the  registers  of  St.  George’s  Church  in  New  York 
have  been  kept.  Few  churches,  perhaps,  can  imitate  St. 
George ’s  in  the  care  with  which  its  administration  has  been 
worked  out,  but  the  following  forms,  based  upon  those  used 
in  St.  George’s  Church,  should  be  used  in  the  keeping  of 
the  records  of  any  church.  The  standard  form  for  the 
baptismal  record  should  be  as  follows : 

1  Hodges  and  Reichert,  op,  cit.,  Chap.  III. 


THE  PARISH  RECORDS 

BAPTISMAL  RECORD 


57 


Full  name  of  person  baptized . 

Names  of  parents  . 

Residence  . 

Names  of  sponsors . 

Date  and  place  of  birth . 

Date  and  place  of  baptism . 

Officiating  clergyman  . 

When  the  entry  is  transferred  to  the  record  book  it  will 
read  as  follows: 

Baptized :  William  Smith,  eldest  child  of  George  and  Susanna 
(Jones)  Smith  of  1919  Oakwood  Boulevard,  Chicago,  Ill.; 
sponsors,  Abraham  Smith  and  Sarah  Jones.  Born,  Chicago, 
Ill.,  July  4,  1917,  baptized  Aug.  21,  1917,  All  Souls’  Church, 
Canterbury,  Mich. 

( Signed )  John  Dob,  Minister. 

The  following  is  the  form  for  a  marriage  record : 

MARRIAGE  RECORD 

Full  name,  age,  color  and  address  of  bridegroom . 


Full  name,  age,  color  and  address  of  bride 


Bridegroom' 


bachelor 

divorced 

widower 


Date  of  marriage  . 

Place  of  marriage  . 

Intended  residence  of  married  couple 
Officiating  minister  . 


Bride- 


f  spinster 
widow 
divorced 


When  the  entry  is  transferred  it  will  read  as  follows : 

Married:  George  Smith  (42,  widower,  white),  of  Chicago, 
Ill.,  and  Susanna  Jones  (24,  spinster,  white),  of  Canterbury, 
Mich.,  on  May  25,  1916,  in  All  Souls’  Church,  Canterbury,  Mich. 
Future  residence,  1919  Oakwood  Boulevard,  Chicago,  Ill. 

(Signed)  John  Doe,  Minister. 


58 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  following  is  the  form  for  a  funeral  record : 

FUNERAL  RECORD 

Full  name  of  deceased  . 

Residence . 

Date  and  place  of  death . 

Cause  of  death  . 

Date  and  place  of  funeral  service . 

P  ace  o  |^cremation  . 

Undertaker  . 

Officiating  clergyman  . . 

When  the  entry  is  transferred  it  will  read  as  follows : 

Funeral:  George  Smith,  of  115  Euclid  Avenue,  Canterbury, 
Mich.,  d.  Jan.  1,  1922,  age  47  years,  6  mos.,  of  pneumonia,  at 
Chicago.  Funeral  at  his  residence ;  burial  in  All  Souls’  Cemetery, 
Jan.  3,  1922;  Jeremiah  Graves,  undertaker. 

{Signed)  John  Doe,  Minister. 

All  such  services,  when  conducted  within  the  church, 
should  be  entered  in  the  registers,  and  services  for  persons 
connected  wdth  the  parish  even  when  they  take  place  at  a 
private  house.  The  minister  may  use  his  discretion  about 
including  in  the  parish  registers  services  which  he  performs 
for  strangers  at  ojffier  places,  as,  for  example,  when  he 
is  away  on  his  vacation.  He  should,  of  course,  make 
entries  of  these  services  also  in  his  private  record  book, 
but  they  are  not  properly  a  part  of  the  parish  records.  In 
case  of  doubt,  however,  it  is  better  for  him  to  err  upon  the 
side  of  inclusiveness,  and  to  enter  the  items  in  the  parish 
registers. 

It  is  important  that  all  entries  should  be  made  promptly, 
at  the  time  of  the  service.  Otherwise,  the  minister  is 
liable  to  find  it  very  difficult  to  obtain  the  information 
which  he  should  have.  He  should  never  content  himself 
with  jotting  down  a  memorandum  of  the  service  and  thrust¬ 
ing  it  into  his  pocket  or  dropping  it  into  a  drawer  to  be 
entered  later  when  a  number  of  such  items  have  collected. 
Loose  memoranda  have  a  way  of  disappearing,  or  the  min- 


THE  PARISH  RECORDS 


59 


ister  may  die  suddenly,  or  remove  at  short  notice  to  another 
locality  without  having  time  to  make  his  entries.  It  takes 
but  a  few  moments  to  enter  each  service  as  it  occurs,  but  it 
is  a  long  and  tedious  task  to  write  up  records  when  they 
fall  into  arrears  for  many  weeks  or  months. 

Many  persons  like  to  have  signed  certificates  of  their 
marriage,  or  of  the  christening  of  their  children.  Such 
certificates  have  now  no  legal  value,  but  the  custom  of 
giving  them  is  a  pleasant  one.  If  the  minister  uses  them  he 
should  avoid  the  cheap,  sentimental  forms  decorated  with 
cherubs,  doves,  or  wedding  bells,  in  favor  of  a  simple  and 
dignified  engraved  form. 

(/)  There  should  be  a  family  record,  in  which  should  be 
entered  detailed  information  about  each  family  or  individ¬ 
ual  belonging  to  the  church.  Some  denominational  pub¬ 
lishing  houses  print  loose-leaf  forms  for  such  family  rec¬ 
ords,  or  have  large  filing  cards  of  standard  size.  The  use 
of  such  movable  cards  or  leaves  is  better  for  this  purpose 
than  a  bound  book,  since  it  more  readily  permits  of  the 
unceasing  revision  which  the  family  record  requires.  When 
an  individual  dies,  or  a  family  removes  to  another  com¬ 
munity,  the  leaf  or  card  can  be  taken  out  of  the  record 
and  filed  among  the  permanent  archives.  It  should  not, 
of  course,  be  destroyed,  but  filed  where  it  can  be  found  if 
later  reference  to  it  is  necessary.  This  record  of  families 
and  individuals  belonging  to  the  church  is  for  the  use  and 
information  of  the  minister  and  the  parish  assistant,  and 
should  not  be  open  to  general  inspection.  It  will  prove  of 
great  assistance  to  the  minister  in  keeping  track  of  his  peo¬ 
ple,  and  is  invaluable  to  a  new  minister  when  he  takes 
charge  of  the  church.  Prom  this  record  the  minister  can 
easily  make  up,  at  the  end  of  each  year,  his  report  of 
deaths,  withdrawals  or  accessions.  Needless  to  say,  its 
value  largely  depends  upon  its  being  kept  up  to  date. 

( g )  Another  form  of  record  useful  to  a  minister  in  a 
busy  and  active  parish,  though  not  essential  to  good  ad¬ 
ministration,  is  a  calendar  of  the  church  year,  in  which 
are  filed  memoranda  relating  to  parish  activities — dates 
for  trustees’  meetings,  church  suppers,  special  collections, 
special  services,  notes  as  to  sermon  themes,  Scripture  read- 


60 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


ings  and  hymns  appropriate  to  the  varying  seasons  of  the 
church  year.  Such  a  file  must  be  gradually  built  up,  but 
will  eventually  be  valuable  as  a  labor-saving  device  to  the 
minister  in  planning  his  work  in  advance.2 

(h)  A  scrapbook  will  be  found  useful  for  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  fugitive  items — church  calendars,  programs,  news¬ 
paper  clippings,  and  other  material  otherwise  easily  lost. 
Every  piece  of  printed  matter  issued  by  the  church  should 
be  thus  preserved.  Each  item  should  be  corrected  when 
it  is  entered,  if  it  contains  erroneous  statements. 

( i )  Two  card  catalogues  should  be  provided,  preferably 
in  a  two-drawer  filing  box,  which  should  contain  in  one 
drawer  a  mailing  list  with  the  names  of  all  the  persons 
connected  with  the  parish,  filed  in  alphabetical  order,  and 
in  the  other  a  calling  list  for  the  minister,  in  which  the 
names  of  all  persons  in  the  parish  are  filed  by  the  streets 
on  which  they  live.  Cards  of  different  colors  may  be  used 
in  these  card  catalogues  to  indicate  the  variou-s  relation¬ 
ships  which  the  persons  entered  bear  to  the  church.  Thus 
members  of  the  church  may  be  entered  on  white  cards, 
regular  attendants  who  are  not  members  on  buff  cards,  and 
“prospects”  on  blue  cards.  These  mailing  and  calling  lists 
must,  of  course,  be  constantly  revised  and  kept  up  to  date. 
The  burden  of  this  work  will  almost  inevitably  fall  upon 
the  minister  of  a  small  church,  though  sometimes  a  reliable 
volunteer  may  relieve  him  of  this  task.  Where  there  is  an 
assistant  minister,  a  parish  assistant,  or  an  office  secretary 
the  work  can  be  properly  assigned  to  such  person.  The 
record  of  parish  calls  made  should  be  entered  on  the  backs 
of  the  cards  in  the  calling  list. 

It  may  seem  that  undue  emphasis  has  been  laid  upon 
the  number  and  importance  of  these  various  forms  of 
record,  but  a  somewhat  wide  and  varied  experience  has 
led  the  writer  to  believe  that  many  ministers  are  grossly 
negligent,  and  many  church  officers  both  ignorant  and  care¬ 
less  in  this  matter.  Botn  the  minister  and  the  church 
officers  should  recognize  that  the  proper  keeping  of  the 

3  See  1 1  The  Administration  of  an  Institutional  Church,  *  ’  pp. 
86-97,  for  such  a  record  of  hymns  used  throughout  the  year  in  St. 
George ’s  Church,  New  York. 


THE  PARISH  RECORDS 


61 


parish  records  is  a  duty  of  primary  importance,  vitally 
connected  with  the  efficient  management  of  the  church. 
Slackness  or  slovenliness  here  is  the  clearest  evidence  of 
a  negligent  and  half-hearted  ministry,  yet  it  is  all  too 
common. 

The  minister’s  personal  records. 

In  addition  to  the  records  which  are  the  property  of  the 
parish,  and  which  the  minister  is  not  at  liberty  to  take 
away,  even  temporarily,  the  minister  will  do  well  to  keep 
his  own  private  record  of  his  professional  service.  This 
private  record  should  contain  a  complete  list  of  his  ser¬ 
mons,  and  a  record  of  the  special  services  which  he  per¬ 
forms — baptisms,  confirmations,  marriages,  funerals — and 
of  his  participation  in  such  services  as  ordinations  and 
installations.  One  large,  well-bound  blank  book  of  good 
paper  will  be  sufficient.  He  may  enter  at  one  end  a  list  of 
all  his  sermons,  giving  each  a  number  and  entering  against 
that  number  the  text  and  subject,  and  the  place,  date  and 
occasion  on  which  it  was  preached.  At  the  other  end  of 
the  book  his  entries  should  run  chronologically.  Against 
the  first  date  he  will  set  the  number  of  the  sermon  used 
and  the  place  where  it  was  preached,  together  with  any 
other  items  that  he  may  wish  to  record,  and  his  succeeding 
engagements  in  due  order,  including  all  the  special  services 
which  he  performs.  The  book  will  thus  contain  at  one  end 
a  record  of  his  professional  service  and  at  the  other  a  record 
of  his  sermons.  It  will  prove  of  great  interest  to  him  per¬ 
sonally  as  he  goes  on  in  life,  and,  if,  after  his  death,  the 
book  is  incorporated  in  the  archives  of  the  church  which  he 
has  served,  it  may  have  a  real  historic  value.  It  is  aston¬ 
ishing,  for  example,  how  much  information  can  be  derived 
from  the  preaching  records  of  the  Puritan  ministers  in 
New  England  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 
Furthermore,  if  the  minister  has  been  negligent  in  keeping 
up  the  parish  registers,  his  neglect  can  sometimes  be  made 
good  by  copying  the  items  from  his  private  record. 

In  addition  to  this  preaching  record  the  wise  minister 
will  also  file  carefully  the  manuscript  or  notes  of  each  ser¬ 
mon  after  he  has  preached  it,  unless,  indeed,  when  he 


62 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


looks  at  it  on  Monday  morning  he  is  so  disgusted  with  its 
inadequacy  that  his  self-respect  requires  him  to  destroy  it 
immediately !  If  he  files  it,  however,  he  should  note  upon 
it  the  date  and  place  of  preaching,  with  any  other  memo¬ 
randa  which  he  may  think  desirable,  and  include  references 
to  the  Scripture  and  the  hymns  used  in  connection  with  it, 
and  perhaps  an  outline  of  his  prayer,  if  it  was  framed  espe¬ 
cially  to  fit  the  discourse.  The  time  may  come  when  he  will 
wish  to  use  that  sermon,  or  parts  of  it,  again,  and  these 
memoranda,  which  take  but  a  few  moments  to  put  down, 
are  likely  later  on  to  save  him  much  time.  A  convenient 
way  to  preserve  sermons  is  to  use  brown  manila  envelopes, 
upon  which  the  minister  can  write  his  name  and  address, 
the  subject  and  text  of  the  sermon  and  the  dates  and  places 
of  its  delivery.  A  vertical  correspondence  filing  cabinet 
offers  the  best  way  for  filing  sermons  and  sermon  materials. 

In  addition  to  this  private  record  of  his  professional 
services,  which  every  minister  should  keep  scrupulously, 
many  ministers  like  also  to  keep  a  private  file  of  docu¬ 
ments,  programs  of  occasions  in  which  they  take  part,  and 
newspaper  clippings  referring  to  themselves  or  their 
churches.  A  scrapbook  into  which  such  items  are  pasted 
in  chronological  order  is  a  convenient  method  of  keeping 
such  items,  or  they  may  be  filed  in  the  filing  cabinet. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 

The  grounds  and  buildings  committee. 

The  church  grounds  and  buildings,  including  the  house 
of  worship,  the  parish  house,  and  the  parsonage,  should  be 
under  the  supervision  of  a  committee  of  three  or  more  per¬ 
sons,  including  at  least  one  member  of  the  governing  board, 
and  one  or  more  women.  In  the  case  of  a  church  with  a 
considerable  establishment  a  large  committee  may  appro¬ 
priately  be  divided  into  subcommittees  having  charge 
respectively  of  the  church,  the  parish  house,  and  the  par¬ 
sonage.  The  committee  should  have  jurisdiction  over  the 
sexton  and  other  persons  who  may  be  employed  to  look 
after  the  grounds  and  buildings.  It  should  see  that  the 
buildings  are  properly  heated  and  lighted,  and  are  kept 
in  good  order ;  that  the  hymn  books,  service  books  and 
other  equipment  are  adequate  in  number  and  serviceable 
in  condition,  and  should  carry  out  all  necessary  minor  re¬ 
pairs,  under  authority  from  the  trustees  or  governing 
body. 

It  is  important  that  the  grounds  and  buildings  should 
present  an  attractive  external  appearance.  A  church  is 
a  semi-public  institution,  and  the  community  has  a  right 
to  expect  that  the  property  shall  not  be  left  in  a  shabby 
or  untidy  condition.  Furthermore,  a  slovenly  appearance 
always  conveys  the  impression  that  a  church  is  running 
down,  and  hence  is  very  detrimental  to  its  welfare. 
Therefore  external  repairs,  such  as  painting,  replacing 
broken  windows,  or  renewing  dilapidated  woodwork,  should 
be  promptly  made.  The  grass  should  be  trimmed  fre¬ 
quently,  and  vines  and  shrubbery  planted  to  make  an 
attractive  appearance.  In  localities  where  there  is  much 

63 


64 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


snow  in  winter  care  should  be  taken  that  the  sidewalks 
are  promptly  cleaned,  or  sanded  in  icy  weather.  Many 
churches  are  ®notoriously  lacking  in  public  spirit  in  this 
matter. 

The  committee  should  also  make  certain  that  the  sexton 
does  his  duty  in  the  matter  of  keeping  the  interior  of  the 
church  and  parish  house  clean  and  neat.  He  should  collect 
and  destroy  each  week  any  printed  papers,  such  as  church 
calendars,  which  may  have  been  distributed  in  the  pews, 
but  which  are  now  out  of  date.  The  Sunday-School  rooms 
ought  to  be  cleared  immediately  after  using,  the  chairs 
rearranged  and  blackboards  cleaned.  The  sexton  should 
also  be  instructed  as  to  airing  the  church  and  parish  house 
both  before  and  after  their  use  by  any  considerable  num¬ 
ber  of  people.  It  is  important  that  the  church  should  be 
thoroughly  aired  just  before  the  congregation  assembles 
for  worship,  even  in  very  cold  weather.  It  is  better  for 
the  church  to  be  a  little  too  cold  at  the  opening  of  worship 
rather  than  too  hot,  since  it  will  soon  warm  up  after  the 
people  gather.  Close,  warm  air  in  a  church  building  is 
even  more  conducive  to  slumber  on  the  part  of  the  con¬ 
gregation  than  a  long  and  prosy  sermon. 

The  minister  has  no  direct  responsibility  for  any  of 
these  matters.  They  should  be  cared  for  by  the  committee 
without  action  on  his  part.  It  is  not  desirable  that  he 
should  be  a  member  of  the  grounds  and  buildings  com¬ 
mittee,  since  he  can  easily  call  the  attention  of  the  com¬ 
mittee  to  matters  needing  attention  which  come  to  his 
notice,  but  he  is  entitled  to  give  instructions  to  the  sexton 
as  to  the  fulfillment  of  his  duties.  The  one  exception  to  his 
freedom  from  this  responsibility  is  that  he  should  himself 
supervise  the  care  of  the  pulpit,  reading  desk,  communion 
table  and  other  equipment  in  the  chancel  of  the  church. 
He  should  see  that  old  notices,  memoranda,  dilapidated 
service  books  and  other  trash  are  not  allowed  to  accumulate 
in  the  recesses  of  the  pulpit,  that  tumblers  half  filled  with 
stale  water  do  not  stand  there  from  week  end  to  week  end, 
and  that  the  books,  utensils  and  furniture  which  he  uses 
in  the  conduct  of  worship  are  kept  in  good  order.  The 
chancel  of  the  church  ought  above  all  places  to  be  clean 


THE  HOUSE  OP  WORSHIP 


65 


and  neat,  and  a  half-concealed  disorder  here  is  the  clearest 
proof  of  a  slovenly  minister.1 

When  new  church  buildings  are  planned. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  minister  simply 
accepts  the  building  and  equipment  of  which  he  finds  the 
parish  already  in  possession  when  he  is  installed  as  min¬ 
ister,  though  he  may  find  it  desirable  to  ask  for  some  minor 
alterations  or  adjustments  of  the  chancel  furniture  to  suit 
his  convenience.  The  time  may  come,  however,  when  the 
parish  will  wish  to  make  extensive  alterations  or  to  erect 
new  buildings.  When  such  a  move  is  in  contemplation  it 
is  important  that  the  minister  should  remember  that  the 
matter  is  one  which  affects  the  whole  parish,  and  for  which 
he  does  not  have  any  direct  responsibility.  The  church 
is  not  his  property,  but  that  of  the  parish,  which  has  to 
pay  the  bills  for  construction  and  maintenance  and  which 
will  use  it  after  he  has  gone  to  another  parish  or  to  his 
grave.  He  should,  therefore,  scrupulously  refrain  from 
any  insistence  that  the  parish  shall  build  thus  and  so  to 
please  his  taste. 

When  building  operations  are  in  prospect  a  representa¬ 
tive  committee  should  be  appointed  at  a  legally  held 
parish  meeting.  The  committee  should  be  so  strong  and  so 
truly  representative  of  the  whole  congregation  that  it  can 

1  “  Of  all  the  material  abominations  of  Christendom  none  is  more 
outrageous  than  a  dirty  altar  and  a  dirty  sanctuary,  except  it  be  a 
dirty  minister. *’  DeWitt.  “Decently  and  in  Order, f>  p.  33. 

So  also  George  Herbert,  in  1 1  The  Country  Parson, 5  ’  Chap.  XIII : 
“The  Country  Parson  hath  a  special  care  of  his  church,  that  all 
things  there  be  decent,  and  befitting  His  name  by  which  it  is  called. 
Therefore,  first  he  takes  order,  that  all  things  be  in  good  repair; 
as  walls  plastered,  windows  glazed,  floor  paved,  seats  whole,  firm,  and 
uniform,  especially  that  the  pulpit,  and  desk,  and  communion  table, 
and  font  be  as  they  ought,  for  those  great  duties  that  are  performed 
in  them.  Secondly,  that  the  church  be  swept,  and  kept  clean  with¬ 
out  dust,  or  cobwebs,  and  at  great  festivals  strewed,  and  stuck  with 
boughs,  and  perfumed  with  incense.  Thirdly,  that  there  be  fit  and 
proper  texts  of  Scripture  everywhere  painted,  and  that  all  the  paint¬ 
ing  be  grave,  and  reverend,  not  with  light  colours  or  foolish  antics. 
Fourthly,  that  all  the  books  appointed  by  authority  be  there,  and 
those  not  torn,  or  fouled,  but  whole  and  clean,  and  well  bound.  ’  ’ 


66 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


successfully  meet  the  danger  of  being  dominated  by  any 
single  individual.  Not  infrequently  some  aggressive  and 
domineering  member  of  a  building  committee — often  a 
man  of  large  means,  accustomed  to  having  his  own  way — 
will  try  to  force  through  the  acceptance  of  plans  which  the 
parish  does  not  really  like,  perhaps  by  threatening  to  with¬ 
hold  his  contribution  if  the  new  church  is  not  built  to  suit 
his  taste.  Many  a  parish  has  been  saddled  with  an  inferior 
or  unsuitable,  though  costly  church  building,  by  some 
individual  of  this  type,  for  the  taste  of  such  a  man  is 
almost  certain  to  be  untrained  and  his  judgment  bad, 
except  as  to  the  cost  of  materials  and  labor. 

The  building  committee  should  first  estimate  as  closely 
as  possible  the  amount  of  money  which  they  will  have  to 
spend.  They  should  then  secure  tentative  plans  and  esti¬ 
mates  falling  within  the  available  amount  and  re-submit 
them  to  the  parish  before  any  contracts  are  let.  The  min¬ 
ister  should  not  be  a  member  of  the  building  committee. 
Not  infrequently  wide  differences  of  opinion  will  develop 
within  the  committee  or  the  parish  as  to  the  architect  to  be 
employed  or  the  style  of  architecture  to  be  adopted.  If 
the  minister  is  a  member  of  the  committee  he  will  find  it 
difficult  to  avoid  taking  sides,  although  he  ought  not  to  do 
so,  since  he  is  minister  of  the  whole  parish.  If  he  is  not  a 
member  of  the  committee  he  can  more  easily  maintain  an 
appropriate  attitude  of  neutrality. 

It  is,  however,  a  mistake  for  the  building  committee  not 
to  consult  the  minister  frequently  about  its  plans,  or  per¬ 
haps  ask  him  to  sit  with  it  unofficially.  The  primary  pur¬ 
pose  of  the  church  is  that  it  should  serve  as  a  house  of 
worship.  The  minister  is — or  is  supposed  to  be — an 
expert  in  the  conduct  of  worship.  He  knows  better  than 
any  one  else  what  are  the  most  convenient  and  practicable 
arrangements  in  such  matters  as  the  location  and  construc¬ 
tion  of  pulpit  and  reading  desk  and  the  best  means  of 
access  to  the  chancel  from  the  minister’s  study  or  from  the 
body  of  the  church.  He  must  preach  in  the  church,  and  is 
vitally  concerned  that  it  should  have  good  acoustic  prop¬ 
erties.  For  the  parish  to  build  a  new  church  without  con¬ 
sulting  the  minister  on  these  x>oints  is  as  unintelligent  as 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 


67 


it  would  be  for  the  board  of  trustees  of  a  library  to  put  up 
a  new  building  without  consulting  the  librarian  as  to  the 
practical  arrangements  necessary  for  the  administration 
thereof.  This  is  the  more  important  because  many  archi¬ 
tects  have  had  small  training  or  experience  in  planning 
churches  and  often  are  surprisingly  ignorant  as  to  what  is 
required.  An  architect  will  sometimes  plan  a  church  with 
no  way  for  the  minister  to  reach  the  pulpit  save  by  walk¬ 
ing  up  the  broad  aisle ;  or  will  try  to  put  the  organ  into 
a  space  not  more  than  half  large  enough  to  hold  it ;  or  will 
plan  a  chancel  so  dark  that  the  minister  cannot  use  either 
reading  desk  or  pulpit  without  artificial  light,  and  then 
try  to  remedy  the  defect  by  putting  a  skylight  into  the  roof 
above  the  chancel,  where  it  is  a  grotesque  eyesore. 

Selecting  the  church  architect. 

Church  building  is  a  highly  specialized  form  of  archi¬ 
tecture,  for  which  the  architect  needs  both  thorough  train¬ 
ing  and  a  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  function  of  the 
church.  He  must  understand  the  particular  type  of  wor¬ 
ship  which  the  church  building  is  intended  to  shelter. 
The  architects  of  the  marvelous  cathedrals  and  the  lovely 
parish  churches  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  men  in  religious 
orders,  monks  or  priests  who  had  dedicated  their  talents 
to  the  service  of  the  church,  who  were  thoroughly  conver¬ 
sant  with  its  dogmas  and  symbolism,  and  deeply  imbued 
with  its  spirit.  One  cannot  expect  to  get  a  satisfactory 
modern  church  building  from  a  young  and  inexperienced 
architect  who  never  steps  inside  a  church  from  one  year's 
end  to  another,  and  who  has  only  the  haziest  notion  as  to 
what  the  service  is  about. 

The  building  committee  ought,  therefore,  to  be  particu¬ 
larly  careful  in  selecting  an  architect.  They  should  not 
employ  any  one  simply  because  he  happens  to  belong  to  a 
family  prominently  connected  with  the  church,  or  because 
it  is  good  politics  to  favor  this  or  that  firm.  Neither  should 
they  give  the  job  to  a  local  contractor  not  competent  to  do 
more  than  put  up  a  building  from  some  plan  bought  from 
a  commercial  house.  A  good  professional  architect  is  well 
worth  the  price  of  his  fees.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  every 


68 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


church  should  be  carefully  adapted  to  the  type  of  worship 
which  it  is  intended  to  house  it  is  often  well  to  employ  an 
architect  who  is  either  a  member  of  the  denomination  to 
which  the  church  belongs,  or  who  has  at  least  built  other 
successful  churches  of  the  same  type.  The  primary  duty  of 
the  committee  is  to  pick  out  the  man  who  is  most  likely  to 
produce  a  satisfactory  building  within  the  prescribed  cost. 
That  does  not  necessarily  mean  choosing  an  architect  with 
the  most  resounding  reputation.  A  firm  of  young,  well- 
trained  men,  who  have  their  reputation  still  to  make,  may 
be  just  as  competent  to  do  a  good  job. 

It  is  desirable  that  the  architect  be  chosen  and  consulted 
about  plans  at  the  earliest  possible  stage  in  the  proceed¬ 
ings.  Often  he  can  give  useful  advice  about  the  choice  of 
a  site,  since  he  can  better  visualize  the  church  which  is  to 
be  than  most  other  people  are  able  to.  The  building  com¬ 
mittee  should  be  reasonable  in  their  demands  upon  him, 
and  not  expect  him  to  work  the  miracle  of  producing  a 
$100,000  church  when  they  give  him  only  $50,000  to  work 
with.  A  conscientious  architect  who  is  entirely  frank  with 
his  clients  about  costs  is  much  more  satisfactory  in  the  end 
than  one  who  leads  them  on  by  glowing  pictures  to  a  heavy 
over-expenditure.  The  committee  should,  therefore,  begin 
by  stating  explicitly  the  amount  which  is  available,  and 
the  kind  of  building  which  the  church  needs,  and  should 
thereafter  be  guided  largely  by  his  advice  as  to  the  best 
way  of  securing  the  desired  results.  The  architect’s  advice 
should  also  be  sought  as  to  the  contractor  to  be  employed. 
He  is  probably  well  acquainted  with  the  several  bidders  for 
the  contract,  and  knows  which  are  the  most  honest  and 
reliable.  It  is  hardly  fair  to  hold  an  architect  responsible 
for  results  if  the  committee  insists  upon  giving  the  contract 
to  builders  whom  the  architect  cannot  trust  to  do  a  good 
job.  Contracts,  therefore,  should  never  be  assigned  as  a 
matter  of  favor,  nor  necessarily  given  to  the  lowest  bidder, 
at  least  if  the  bid  is  so  low  that  it  is  clear  that  the  builder 
must  scamp  the  job  to  make  any  profit. 

It  is  seldom  wise  to  invite  a  number  of  architects  to  enter 
a  competition,  except  for  a  very  large  and  important 
undertaking.  Such  a  competition  is  expensive,  since  it 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 


69 


means  the  study  and  preparation  of  several  sets  of  plans 
by  a  number  of  men,  and  the  best  architects  generally  will 
not  enter  one  except  when  a  great  professional  opportunity 
is  at  stake.  Competitions  are  governed  by  a  code  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  American  Institute  of  Architects,  to  which 
application  should  be  made  for  information.2  Under 
ordinary  circumstances  it  is  better  policy  for  the  parish  to 
invite  the  best  architect  whom  it  can  find  to  submit  for 
discussion  a  single,  tentative  set  of  drawings,  out  of 
which  a  thoroughly  satisfactory  plan  may  eventually  be 
evolved. 

The  house  of  worship. 

No  church  can  be  regarded  as  an  architectural  success 
unless  both  its  exterior  and  its  interior  unmistakably  pro¬ 
claim  it  to  be  a  house  of  worship.  Whatever  style  of 
architecture  be  adopted  the  function  and  purpose  of  the 
building  ought  to  be  clearly  indicated.  In  some  denomina¬ 
tions  there  was  a  marked  tendency  in  the  last  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth  century  to  secularize  church  buildings,  with 
the  mistaken  idea  that  the  unchurched  could  more  easily 
be  induced  to  enter  a  building  which  looked  as  though  it 
might  be  a  fire-engine  house,  or  a  badly  designed  public 
library,  or  a  town  hall  erected  by  the  local  contractor.  The 
result  of  that  tendency  has  been  to  inflict  upon  parishes 
hideous  buildings  very  badly  adapted  to  their  intended 
use.  Their  uninviting  exteriors  are  pretentious  shams, 
which  deceive  nobody ;  their  interiors,  with  folding  theater 
seats  on  a  floor  which  slopes  to  a  wide  platform,  savor  of 
vaudeville,  or,  at  best,  of  a  lecture  hall  or  concert  room, 
and  utterly  lack  the  power  to  suggest  or  stimulate  the 
spirit  of  worship.  The  theory  which  produced  this  type  of 
building — that  religion  could  be  made  attractive  by  the 
elimination  of  all  its  traditional  settings — was  a  thoroughly 
mistaken  one. 

A  church  is  primarily  and  essentially  a  building  in 
which  a  congregation  assembles  to  worship  God.  That 
worship  can  best  be  promoted  by  an  edifice  which,  by  its 

3  Address,  The  Secretary :  American  Institute  of  Architects,  The 
Octagon,  Washington,  D.  C. 


70 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


silent  dignity,  communicates  to  all  who  enter  it  the  spirit 
which  it  has  been  erected  to  house,  and  which  offers  the 
fewest  suggestions  of  other  and  alien  purposes.  Beauty 
should,  of  course,  be  sought  for,  but  it  will  most  surely 
be  found  in  the  careful  adaptation  of  the  building  to  the 
purpose  for  which  it  is  intended,  in  good  proportions,  and 
in  the  sincerity  with  which  the  building  materials  are 
used.  These  are  the  essentials  of  beauty  in  every  house  of 
worship,  whether  it  be  an  Egyptian  temple,  the  Parthenon 
at  Athens,  a  Gothic  cathedral  or  a  Quaker  meeting-house. 
There  should  be  no  pretense  that  the  materials  used  are 
something  other  than  what  is  actually  the  case.  There 
should  be  no  painting  of  plaster  to  imitate  marble,  no 
staining  of  pine  to  imitate  mahogany,  no  use  of  cement 
blocks  to  imitate  cut  stone.  Any  such  pretense  is  an 
abomination  unto  the  Lord. 

Elaborate  ornamentation  should  be  avoided,  because  it  is 
costly,  because  simplicity  of  line  and  form  means  that 
there  will  be  less  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  wor¬ 
shiper,  and  because  of  the  inadequacy  of  modern  crafts¬ 
manship,  which  makes  it  difficult  or  impossible  nowadays  to 
secure  good  work,  as,  for  instance,  in  wood  or  stone  carv¬ 
ing.  Therefore  the  design  should  not  show  greater  elabo¬ 
ration  than  admits  of  good  execution.  The  architecture 
should  be  structurally  as  simple  as  it  can  be  made,  avoid¬ 
ing  meaningless  gables,  and  those  turrets  and  “ginger¬ 
bread”  moldings  which  were  the  product  of  that  architec¬ 
tural  nightmare  known  as  ‘ 1  the  Queen  Anne  cottage  style.  ’  ’ 
There  should  be  no  false  buttresses  placed  where  there  is  no 
thrust  to  be  met,  no  false  fronts  on  the  church — “brick 
with  mock-marble  pious  front  ’  ’ 3 — and  no  hidden  cheap¬ 
ness  at  the  rear  of  the  building  out  of  sight  of  the  passer’s 
eye,  but  every  part  of  the  church  should  be  built  with 
equal  care  and  sincerity.  The  one  permissible  exception  to 
this  rule  is  when  only  a  part  of  the  church  has  been  com¬ 
pleted,  and  the  point  at  which  construction  is  arrested  is 
marked  by  what  is  obviously  a  temporary  partition  wall. 
Such  a  wall  needs  no  apology,  since  it  explains  itself. 


®3  J.  R.  Lowell,  i  1  The  Cathedral.  ’ } 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 


71 


Styles  of  architecture. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  though  there  are  many 
beautiful  styles  of  church  architecture  it  is  almost  in¬ 
evitable  that  some  particular  style  will  be  peculiarly  appro¬ 
priate  to  the  needs  of  the  parish  which  is  intending  to 
build.  It  is  essential  to  success  that  the  building  commit¬ 
tee  should  choose  a  style  which  is  simple  and  fitting,  instead 
of  demanding  one  which  is  out  of  place  or  ornate  or 
bizarre.  Byzantine  churches  or  Arabic  mosques  are  inter¬ 
esting  and  beautiful  in  Constantinople  or  Cairo,  but  they 
are  unsuited  to  Christian  America.  The  committee,  there¬ 
fore,  should  choose  the  style  which  is  adapted  to  the  form 
of  worship  to  be  used,  which  conforms  to  local  traditions 
and  to  the  character  of  the  surroundings,  and  which  best 
lends  itself  to  the  available  building  materials.  In  build¬ 
ing  a  Roman  Catholic  church  the  primary  consideration 
is  the  celebration  of  the  Mass,  and  the  building  must  be 
planned  to  that  end.  The  present  tendency  of  Roman 
Catholic  architects  is  to  use  Italianesque  styles  as  charac¬ 
teristic  of  the  traditions  of  that  church.  In  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church  the  present  tendency  is  to  follow  English 
Gothic  models,  since  the  church  building  is  planned  for  a 
liturgical  service,  generally  with  a  large  choir  and  proces¬ 
sional  and  recessional  entrance  and  exit>  for  which  the 
Gothic  style  is  particularly  adapted.  A  Quaker  meeting¬ 
house,  in  which  there  is  much  silent  worship  as  well  as 
individual  speaking  by  worshipers  scattered  through  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  house,  calls  for  a  wholly  different 
arrangement.  And  a  church  where  a  congregational,  non- 
liturgical  type  of  worship  is  used  must  be  adapted  pri¬ 
marily  to  a  service  in  which  preaching  has  a  prominent 
place.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  architec¬ 
ture  is  a  living,  growing  art.  Therefore  a  good  architect 
should  not  be  held  to  a  doctrinaire  adherence  to  established 
forms,  but  should  be  given  a  free  hand  in  the  adaptation 
of  the  chosen  style  to  the  particular  needs  of  the  local 
situation. 


72 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  Gothic  style. 

In  many  parts  of  this  country  the  choice  of  styles  prac¬ 
tically  lies  between  Gothic  and  the  so-called  Colonial,  or 
Georgian.  Both  of  these  styles  are  an  inheritance  from  the 
past,  the  Gothic  being  a  modern  revival  of  the  great  archi¬ 
tecture  developed  in  northern  Europe  during  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  Georgian  being  a  descendant  of  the  English  forms 
of  Renaissance  architecture  as  developed  during  the  seven¬ 
teenth,  eighteenth,  and  early  nineteenth  centuries.  At 
the  present  time  there  is  a  strong  tendency  toward  the 
Gothic  style  in  other  denominations  besides  the  Protestant 
Episcopal.  This  enthusiasm  for  the  Gothic  style  is  part  of 
the  general  awakening  of  interest  in  the  Middle  Ages,  which 
has  been  40  notable  in  the  last  one  hundred  years,  in 
marked  contrast  to  the  attitude  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  when  the  very  word  “ Gothic’ ’  was  a 
synonym  for  all  that  was  barbarous  and  uncouth.  Modern 
Gothic,  when  well  done,  is  a  beautiful  style,  churchly  in 
character,  giving  an  atmosphere  of  devotion  to  the  build¬ 
ing.  In  the  hand  of  an  ill-trained  architect,  however,  it  is 
a  thing  of  horror,  and  it  is  always  a  very  expensive  style 
in  which  to  build  well.  A  Gothic  church  ought  to  be  built 
of  stone,  with  carefully  cut  trimmings  and  stone  mullions 
in  the  windows,  which  should  be  of  stained  glass  made  *by 
true  artists  and  not  by  commercial  dealers  in  church  fur¬ 
nishings.  A  Gothic  church  built  of  stone  conveys  an  im¬ 
pression  of  permanency  and  stability,  but  it  is  more  dif¬ 
ficult  to  warm  and  to  speak  in — unless  the  church  be  a 
small  one — because  of  the  high  open  or  vaulted  roof. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  great  Gothic  churches 
were  not  intended  primarily  for  a  preaching  service,  but 
for  a  choral  celebration  of  the  eucharist  in  the  choir,  while 
the  congregation  stood  or  knelt  in  the  nave.  Preach¬ 
ing  occurred  only  occasionally  and  the  pulpit  was  gen¬ 
erally  erected  against  a  pillar  in  the  nave,  so  that  the 
preacher  might  be  understood  by  his  hearers.  It  is  dif¬ 
ficult  to  adapt  the  Gothic  style  to  a  service  in  which 
preaching  plays  as  important  a  part  as  is  the  case  in  most 
Protestant  churches,  unless  the  building  be  a  small  one, 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 


73 


seating  not  more  than  five  or  six  hundred  people.  Further¬ 
more,  there  are  implicit  in  Gothic  architecture  certain 
theological  concepts  which  most  Protestant  churches  at 
least  do  not  emphasize,  even  if  they  have  not  rejected 
them  altogether.  A  Gothic  church  should  be  rather  long, 
narrow  and  high,  with  a  deep  chancel,  raised  three  or  five 
steps  above  the  level  of  the  floor  of  the  church  and  flanked 
by  pulpit  and  reading  desk.  The  singers  are  placed  within 
the  choir,  in  stalls  facing  across  the  church — not  facing 
the  congregation.  The  altar  at  the  end  of  the  choir  is  the 
focus  of  attention  for  the  worshipers.  Churches  which  do 
not  wish  to  emphasize  the  eucharistic  form  of  worship  will 
do  well  to  pause  before  building  in  the  Gothic  style,  since, 
if  they  choose  that  style,  they  are  confronted  by  the 
dilemma  of  either  building  a  church  which  is  not  a  genuine 
expression  of  their  ideas  of  worship,  or  of  mutilating  a 
beautiful  style  to  fit  their  needs.  In  any  case  a  building 
committee  should  avoid  using  a  pseudo-Gothic — a  cheap 
wooden  imitation  of  Gothic,  which  merely  apes  the  real 
thing,  and  is  in  reality  a  barefaced  falsehood. 

The  Georgian  style. 

The  Georgian  style  is  anathema  to  those  persons  who 
have  turned  their  eyes  back  to  the  thirteenth  century  as 
the  crowning  period  of  Christian  civilization,  for  whom 
Gothic  is  the  only  type  of  architecture  in  which  the  spirit 
of  Christian  worship  can  be  expressed.  For  persons  of  a 
more  catholic  taste,  however,  the  Georgian  style  offers  cer¬ 
tain  great  advantages.  It  is  more  closely  associated  with 
the  traditions  of  our  eastern  states,  from  New  England  to 
Georgia,  since  it  was  practically  the  only  style  of  church 
architecture  used  in  this  country  by  any  denomination  down 
to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Many  beauti¬ 
ful  specimens  of  it  survive,  not  only  Puritan  meeting¬ 
houses  of  the  colonial  days  and  of  the  opening  decades  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  but  also  noble  parish  churches 
built  for  the  use  of  Episcopalian  congregations,  two  best 
known  examples  of  which  are,  perhaps,  King’s  Chapel  in 
Boston  and  St.  Michael’s  in  Charleston,  S.  C.  The  Geor¬ 
gian  style  is  for  Protestant  Christianity  in  this  country  a 


74 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


more  direct  inheritance  than  Gothic,  which  comes  to  ns  as 
a  deliberate  revival  imported  into  this  country  by  enthu¬ 
siasts  for  the  Middle  Ages.  A  Georgian  church  is  much 
less  expensive  to  build  well  than  a  Gothic  church,  and  easier 
to  heat  and  light.  Owing  to  its  greater  width,  in  com¬ 
parison  with  its  length,  it  will  seat  a  ’much  larger  con¬ 
gregation  in  proportion  to  its  size  and  cost,  and  it  is  well 
adapted  to  a  non-liturgical  form  of  worship,  and  particu¬ 
larly  for  preaching,  generally  having  much  better  acous¬ 
tic  properties.  It  may  be  built  in  wood  as  well  as  in  brick 
or  in  stone,  the  style  being  equally  adapted  to  all  three 
materials,  and,  when  done  in  good  taste,  gives  a  struc¬ 
ture  which  is  both  dignified  and  worshipful.  It  does  not 
require  stained  glass  windows,  as  the  Gothic  church  does, 
but  should  always  have  windows  of  clear  or  very  slightly 
tinted  glass.  Stained  glass  windows  are  not  in  harmony 
with  the  Georgian  style. 

Other  architectural  styles. 

There  is  a  certain  advantage  in  the  adoption  by  a  given 
denomination  of  a  uniform  style  of  architecture,  as  the 
Roman  Catholics  have  adopted  Italianesque  and  the 
Episcopalians  English  Gothic.  In  other  churches  this 
advantage  is  perhaps  overbalanced  by  the  desirability  of 
variety  to  accord  with  the  differing  traditions  and  climatic 
conditions  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  The  Georgian 
style  is  peculiarly  appropriate  in  New  England  and  the 
other  seaboard  states  as  far  south  as  Georgia,  and  in  places 
in  the  west  where  the  New  England  traditions  are  strong, 
but  neither  Georgian  nor  Gothic  is  particularly  appropriate 
in  Florida  or  Louisiana  or  the  Southwest  or  California. 
In  those  parts  of  the  country  a  church  must  be  so  built 
as  to  shut  out  the  heat  and  glare  of  the  sun.  Mission  archi¬ 
tecture  is  appropriate  in  California  and  the  Southwest,  the 
church  building  being  of  stone,  brick  or  concrete  with  a 
tiled  roof,  but  such  a  structure  looks  entirely  out  of  place 
on  the  North  Atlantic  seaboard.  It  is  true  that  at  the 
present  time  the  Mission  style  has  been  cheapened  by  being 
grotesquely  abused,  but,  when  carefully  worked  out,  there 
is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  make  an  appropriate 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 


75 


and  beautiful  style  of  architecture  for  Protestant  wor¬ 
ship. 

Where  good  building  stone  is  scarce,  or  has  to  be 
brought  a  long  distance,  it  is  better  to  build  of  brick,  wood 
or  concrete.  Whenever  brick  is  used  great  care  should  be 
taken  in  its  selection  to  choose  a  well-baked  brick  with  a 
warm  tone,  avoiding  the  cheaper  bricks  which  lack  char¬ 
acter.  Anything  like  striking  designs  made  by  the  use 
of  variegated  bricks,  or  stripes  produced  by  alternate 
layers  of  brick  or  stone,  should  be  shunned  like  the  plague. 

The  clmrch  interior. 

The  church  interior  should,  of  course,  fulfill  the  promise 
of  the  exterior.  It  must  be  arranged  for  the  most  con¬ 
venient  and  adequate  conduct  of  the  type  of  worship  to  be 
observed  therein.  It  should  be  neither  startling  nor  pretty, 
but  at  least  simple  and  dignified,  if  it  cannot  attain  to 
nobility  and  beauty.  It  should  contain  nothing,  either  in 
furnishings  or  decorations,  which  suggest  secular  associa¬ 
tions  or  which  distract  the  attention  of  the  worshiper,  and 
it  should  be  used  only  for  services  of  worship,  or  for 
occasions  closely  associated  therewith,  such  as  lectures  or 
public  meetings  in  the  interest  of  public  morality  or  edu¬ 
cation.  It  should  never  be  used  for  entertainments,  debates 
on  trivial  subjects,  moving  pictures,  or  in  any  other  way 
which  tends  to  break  down  the  association  of  the  church 
building  with  the  idea  of  worship.  People  do  not  easily 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  worship  in  a  building  which  they 
have  lately  visited  to  witness  some  entertainment.  The 
parish  house  should  be  available  for  such  activities — the 
house  of  worship  should  be  reserved  for  its  primary  pur¬ 
pose.4 

4  The  following  description  of  a  recently  erected  church,  taken 
from  a  newspaper,  is  a  typical  example  of  an  all  too  prevalent  but 
wholly  mistaken  idea  of  what  a  church  interior  should  be  like.  ‘  ‘  The 
church  is  one  of  the  finest  church  structures  in  the  city.  Comfortable 
individual  seats  have  been  provided  with  the  expectation  that  the 
building  will  serve  the  community  seven  days  in  the  week.  The 
pastor’s  platform  deviates  from  the  usual  type  of  pulpit.  It  is  a 
stage,  furnished  with  a  grand  piano  and  has  a  reading  stand  in 
place  of  a  pulpit.  The  stage  may  be  used  for  the  presentation  of 


76 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


Interior  walls. 

In  a  Gothic  church  the  walls  may  appropriately  be  built 
of  cut  stone  if  money  is  available,  or  they  may  be  plastered. 
In  a  Georgian  church  the  interior  is  plastered  and  painted. 
In  any  case  the  interior  painting  should  be  of  one  plain, 
solid  color,  of  some  neutral  tint.  There  should  be  no 
frescoing  or  stenciling  of  elaborate  designs  in  variegated 
colors,  and  no  use  of  painted  symbols  drawn  from  pagan 
sources,  nor  of  ancient  Christian  symbols  which  have  a 
theological  significance  at  variance  with  the  theology  of  the 
church  to  be  decorated.  Plain  wall  surfaces  will  least  dis¬ 
tract  the  attention  of  the  worshipers  from  the  conduct  of 
the  service.  If  there  be  in  the  church  some  large  bare 
surface  which  calls  for  something  to  fill  it,  a  simply 
painted  text,  without  meaningless  arabesques,  is  the  best 
decoration.5 

The  windows. 

Many  church  interiors  are  so  dark  as  to  require  artificial 
light,  even  on  a  bright  day,  because  of  inadequate  window 
areas.  Sometimes  the  architect  has  provided  a  sufficient 
area  of  clear  glass  to  light  the  building  but  has  made  no 
allowance  for  the  marked  diminution  of  light  which  will 
result  from  filling  the  windows  with  stained  glass;  some¬ 
times  the  building  has  had  its  light  shut  out  by  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  high  buildings  on  the  adjacent  lots ;  sometimes  the 
windows  have  been  placed  too  low  to  light  the  middle  of 
the  church.  Reasonable  foresight  will  generally  prevent 
the  architectural  defect  of  a  church  so  dark  that  the  con¬ 
gregation  cannot  see  to  read  at  midday  without  artificial 
light.  In  planning  a  Gothic  church  it  should  be  assumed 
that  the  windows  will  eventually  be  filled  with  stained 
glass  and  the  window  areas  should  be  calculated  accord¬ 
ingly.  In  a  Georgian  church  it  should  be  assumed  that 
the  windows  will  be  filled  with  clear  glass  if  the  outlook 

plays,  lyceum  entertainments,  and  motion  pictures.  ’  ’  Apparently 
the  only  thing  that  has  been  overlooked  here  is  the  provision  that 
the  seats  could  be  removed  so  that  the  floor  of  the  church  could  also 
be  used  for  dances  and  card  parties! 

6  See  quotation  from  George  Herbert  in  footnote  on  p.  65. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 


77 


from  the  church  is  pleasant,  or  with  a  lightly  tinted  glass 
if  the  outlook  is  upon  brick  walls.  The  church  walls  should 
be  built  of  sufficient  height  to  permit  the  light  from  the 
windows  to  enter  over  the  heads  of  the  worshipers.  Except 
in  a  small  church  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  bottom  of  the 
windows  should  be  much  below  the.  level  of  a  man’s  head, 
this  arrangement  leaving  a  small  space  below  the  windows 
for  the  placing  of  mural  tablets.  In  a  very  small  church, 
where  the  walls  are  necessarily  low,  there  should  be  a 
large  window  at  the  rear  of  the  church,  behind  the  congre¬ 
gation,  from  which  light  will  fall  upon  their  books.  It 
should  never  be  necessary  to  resort  to  skylights,  or  gable 
windows  in  the  roof,  which  are  entirely  out  of  place  in 
church  architecture,  save  in  the  unusual  instance  of  a 
church  built  in  a  solid  city  block  and  lighted  wholly  from 
above  by  a  roof  constructed  chiefly  of  glass. 

The  organ. 

The  organ  is  a  piece  of  church  furnishing  which  has  a 
definite  architectural  value.  The  pipes  should  either  be 
left  their  natural  silvery  color,  or  gilded, — never  elabo¬ 
rately  painted  with  meaningless  designs.  The  best  place 
for  the  organ,  acoustically,  is  at  one  end  or  the  other  of  the 
church.  In  a  Gothic  church  the  natural  location  is  in  the 
choir,  behind  or  above  the  choir  stalls.  In  a  Georgian 
church  the  best  place  is  in  a  choir  gallery  at  the  opposite  end 
of  the  church  from  the  pulpit.  The  location  of  the  organ 
behind  or  beside  the  pulpit,  as  is  so  common  in  churches 
built  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  is 
generally  undesirable.  The  organ  is  not  the  object  upon 
which  the  attention  of  the  congregation  should  be  con¬ 
centrated.  That  object  should  be  the  altar  surmounted  by 
a  cross  in  churches  of  the  sacramental  type  of  worship,  or 
the  pulpit  in  churches  which  emphasize  the  prophetic  form 
of  religion.  The  organ  makes  an  unsuitable  background 
for  the  minister,  and  the  singers,  if  placed  behind  him, 
must  face  the  congregation,  so  that  the  unwelcome  sug¬ 
gestion  of  a  concert  room  is  inevitably  emphasized  and 
every  movement  of  the  choir  is  distractingly  visible  to  the 
worshipers.  Such  a  location  for  the  organ  and  choir  is, 


78 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


therefore,  to  be  avoided.  A  possible  exception  is  that 
in  a  very  small  church,  without  a  choir,  a  little  organ 
may  properly  be  placed  on  the  floor  of  the  church 
in  full  sight  of  the  congregation  that  the  organist  may 
better  lead  the  congregational  singing.  Another  possible 
location,  in  churches  of  moderate  size^  is  in  a  transept  in 
which  a  choir  gallery  is  carried  out  to  the  wall  of  the  nave. 
This  is  less  advantageous  acoustically  than  a  location  at 
the  end  of  the  church,  but  is  not  open  to  the  objections  of  a 
choir  directly  behind  the  minister. 

The  pulpit  and  reading-desk. 

In  a  Gothic  church  the  pulpit  and  reading-desk,  or  lec- 
tern,  are  located  on  opposite  sides  of  the  entrance  to  the 
choir.  In  a  Georgian  church  they  may  be  so  located,  but 
more  commonly  the  pulpit  is  centrally  located  and  serves 
as  a  reading-desk  also.  In  many  Protestant  churches  the 
pulpit  is  hardly  more  than  a  bookstand  set  on  a  platform, 
about  which  the  preacher  walks  to  and  fro  as  he  speaks. 
There  is  a  type  of  pulpit  orator  to  whom  this  arrangement 
is  acceptable.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  an  outstanding 
example.  He  wanted  a  platform  about  which  he  could 
roam,  rather  than  what  he  called  “one  of  those  old- 
fashioned  swallow’s  nests  on  the  wall.”  He  felt  that  thus 
he  could  get  closer  to  his  people.  His  illustrious  example 
to  the  contrary,  a  pulpit  is  better  suited  to  the  conduct  of 
worship  than  a  platform,  with  its  suggestions  of  the  lecture 
room,  or  of  political  eloquence,  for  the  sermon  ought  not  to 
be  an  oration,  a  lecture  or  an  essay,  but  a  sermon. 

In  every  case  both  the  pulpit  and  reading-desk  should  be 
specially  designed  and  built  for  the  church,  rather  than 
bought  ready-made  from  some  church  furnishing  company, 
except  where  the  church  cannot  afford  to  put  specially 
designed  furniture  in  at  once,  in  which  case  the  commercial 
articles  may  be  used  as  a  temporary  expedient,  but  the 
ready-made  articles  are  generally  bad  in  design  and  out 
of  keeping  with  a  well-planned  church.  The  floor  of  the 
pulpit  should  be  at  least  three  feet  above  the  floor  of  a 
small  church,  and  more  in  a  large  church,  but  the  old- 
fashioned  high  pulpit  is  desirable  only  in  a  church  with 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 


79 


galleries,  in  which  case  the  height  should  be  such  that  at 
least  the  head  of  a  small  man  in  the  pulpit  will  be  clearly 
visible  to  all  persons  sitting  in  the  galleries.  The  sides 
of  the  pulpit  should  be  built  to  a  height  of  about  three  feet 
from  the  floor  thereof,  topped  by  a  ledge  not  less  than 
eight  inches  broad.  The  board  upon  which  the  preacher 
lays  his  manuscript  or  notes  should  not  be  less  than  twelve 
by  fifteen  inches,  and  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  be  easily 
raised  and  lowered,  and  tilted.  There  should  always  be 
provision  in  the  pulpit  for  artificial  lighting,  and  in  many 
churches  an  acousticon  is  attached  for  the  benefit  of  deaf 
people  in  the  congregation.  It  is  not  ornamental  if  left 
exposed  to  view,  but  it  can  easily  be  screened  from  the  con¬ 
gregation  by  a  hanging  piece  of  brocade  of  suitable  color. 
In  a  Gothic  or  Italianesque  church  the  pulpit  is  sometimes 
built  of  stone  or  marble,  otherwise  it  is  of  oak.  In  the 
Georgian  churches  of  the  colonial  period  it  was  often  built 
of  mahogany,  but  nowadays  is  commonly  of  a  less  expen¬ 
sive  wood,  painted  white,  with  a  mahogany  or  cherry  top 
and  sermon  board.  The  reading-desk,  if  there  be  one, 
should  be  built  to  match.  The  brass  lecterns  so  common 
in  the  last  century  are  inartistic  and  undesirable.  Both 
reading-desk  and  pulpit  should  have  a  small  concealed 
shelf  or  book  rack  to  hold  hymnals  and  service  books, 
making  unnecessary  the  small  tables  found  behind  the 
pulpits  in  some  Protestant  churches. 

The  communion  table. 

In  Roman  Catholic  churches  the  altar  is  always,  and  in 
Episcopal  churches  is  commonly  of  stone  built  into  the 
church.  In  other  churches  a  movable  communion  table  is 
commonly  used.  It  should  be  substantial  in  construction, 
of  oak  or  mahogany  to  match  the  pulpit  and  reading-desk, 
and  designed  for  the  church,  its  size  varying  somewhat  in 
proportion  to  its  setting. 

The  seats  for  the  clergy. 

In  Gothic  churches  the  ministers  are  seated  with  the 
choir  in  stalls  assigned  to  them.  In  a  Georgian  church, 
or  one  of  some  other  architectural  style,  one  or  more 


80 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


movable  chairs  are  provided,  just  behind  the  pulpit,  or 
in  the  chancel,  if  there  be  one.  In  a  small  church  it  is 
well  to  provide  three,  in  a  large  church  five  such  chairs, 
for  use  upon  occasions  when  more  than  one  minister  takes 
part  in  the  service.  The  chairs  should  be  carefully  de¬ 
signed  or  selected  to  match  the  rest  of  the  chancel  furni¬ 
ture.  Sometimes  a  bench,  long  enough  to  seat  at  least 
three  persons,  is  provided  instead. 

The  pews. 

The  old-fashioned,  square  box  pews,  characteristic  of 
the  older  colonial  churches  and  still  in  use  in  a  few  places, 
are  picturesque,  but  wasteful  of  space,  and  give  an  appear¬ 
ance  of  being  inhospitable  to  strangers.  A  modern  church 
will  naturally  use  bench  pews  of  a  character  appropriate  to 
the  rest  of  the  church  interior.  If  of  the  natural  color  of 
the  wood,  or  stained,  they,  like  the  rest  of  the  church  furni¬ 
ture,  should  have  a  dull  waxed  finish,  instead  of  being 
brightly  varnished  so  that  they  will  reflect  gleams  of  light 
into  the  eyes  of  the  congregation.  Varnish  is  also  liable  on 
a  warm  day  to  stick  to  the  clothes  of  people  sitting  in  the 
pews.  Curving  rows  of  seats  on  a  floor  sloping  to  the  pul¬ 
pit  are  to  be  avoided  as  giving  the  suggestion  of  a  theater. 
That  is  also  a  valid  objection  to  individual  folding  seats, 
except  as  a  temporary  expedient  until  the  church  can  put 
in  properly  designed  pews. 

In  a  small  church  the  pews  are  best  arranged  in  two 
blocks,  with  a  wide  main  aisle  in  the  middle  of  the  church 
and  a  side  aisle  along  either  wall.  In  a  large,  wide  church 
three  blocks  of  pews  may  be  better,  with  two  broad  aisles. 
A  central  aisle,  however,  is  preferable  for  weddings  and 
funerals.  It  should  be  wide  enough  to  permit  a  coffin 
to  be  carried  up  without  crowding  the  bearers,  that  is,  not 
less  than  five  feet.  There  should  also  be  room  enough  at 
the  foot  of  the  chancel  steps,  or  before  the  pulpit  in  a 
church  in  which  the  latter  is  centrally  located,  to  deposit 
the  coffin  and  to  turn  it,  or  for  a  wedding  party  to  stand 
for  a  marriage  service.  If  the  church  has  more  seats 
than  are  needed  for  ordinary  occasions,  so  that  the  con¬ 
gregation  seems  thin  and  scattered,  the  removal  of  a  few 


THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP 


81 


pews  at  the  back  of  the  church  will  help  to  bring  the  con¬ 
gregation  forward. 

The  control  of  gifts  and  memorials. 

Very  often  some  of  the  furnishings  may  be  offered  as 
gifts,  or,  in  a  church  already  equipped,  members  may 
from  time  to  time  wish  to  give  memorials,  perhaps  in  the 
form  of  tablets,  or  stained  glass  windows.  All  such  gifts 
should  be  especially  designed  for  the  place  they  are  to 
occupy,  and  the  design  should  be  approved  by  the  govern¬ 
ing  board,  or  by  a  competent  committee,  before  it  is 
actually  executed.  Otherwise  there  is  always  danger  that 
a  well-meaning  person  with  poor  taste  may  inflict  upon  a 
parish  some  unsuitable  object  which  is  a  blemish  on  the 
interior  of  the  house  of  worship.  The  society  has  a  right 
to  safeguard  itself  against  this  risk,  and  if  it  be  clearly 
understood  in  advance  that  the  approval  of  a  competent 
committee  is  required,  no  difficulties  are  likely  to  arise. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  PARISH  HOUSE 

The  value  of  a  parish  house. 

Previous  to  the  nineteenth  century  parish  houses  were 
very  seldom,  if  ever,  found,  as  part  of  the  equipment  of 
Protestant  churches  in  England  or  the  United  States.  The 
meeting-house  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries 
had  only  a  small  retiring  room  for  the  minister.  With  the 
development  of  Sunday-Schools  from  their  beginning  early 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  the  great  enlargement  of 
parish  activities  in  the  last  fifty  years,  an  adequate  parish 
house  has  become  an  essential  for  carrying  on  the  wTork  of 
a  modern  church.  A  church  is  no  longer  a  preaching  post, 
open  one  day  a  week,  but  a  center  for  various  social,  edu¬ 
cational  and  philanthropic  interests  which  must  be  given 
house-room.  Every  church,  therefore,  should  study  care¬ 
fully  its  opportunities  for  such  work  in  the  community,  and 
should  seek  to  equip  itself  adequately  to  meet  these  needs. 

The  location  of  the  parish  house. 

The  ideal  arrangement  is  an  architectural  group,  in¬ 
cluding  church,  parish  house  and  parsonage  as  separate 
units  in  an  organic  whole.  Where  financial  resources  per¬ 
mit  the  execution  of  such  a  plan  the  house  of  worship 
should  be  the  dominating  feature  of  the  group,  both  in  its 
location  and  its  architectural  quality.  The  parish  house 
should  be  definitely  subordinated  to  the  church,  being 
located  behind  or  on  one  side. 

Such  an  ideal  plan,  however,  is  often  impossible  because 
of  either  the  expense  involved  or  lack  of  space.  The  latter 
consideration  applies  especially  to  old  churches  about  which 
other  structures  are  closely  built,  where  there  is  no  oppor- 

82 


THE  PARISH  HOUSE 


83 


tunity  to  acquire  sufficient  land  immediately  adjoining  the 
house  of  worship  for  the  erection  of  a  parish  house.  In 
such  cases  the  next  best  thing  to  do  is  to  acquire  a  parish 
house  by  purchase  or  erection  on  some  other  site  as  near 
the  church  as  is  practicable.  If  the  church  is  a  down¬ 
town  one,  at  some  distance  from  the  residence  district 
where  most  of  the  parishioners  live,  it  is  better  to  locate  the 
parish  house  where  it  will  be  most  accessible  to  the  homes 
of  the  people.  Such  a  geographical  separation  of  the 
parish  house  from  the  house  of  worship  is,  however,  unde¬ 
sirable  where  it  can  be  avoided,  as  it  weakens  the  associa¬ 
tions  which  bind  the  people,  especially  the  children,  to 
the  house  of  worship. 

Another  possible  location  for  the  parish  house  is  in  the 
basement  beneath  the  house  of  worship.  This  arrangement 
is  to  be  recommended  only  on  grounds  of  economy.  It  does 
mean  the  maximum  use  of  the  smallest  practicable  area 
of  land,  with  a  minimum  building  cost  for  the  space  pro¬ 
vided.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  much  better  that  the  house 
of  worship  should  be  an  architectural  unit  by  itself,  devoted 
wholly  to  its  primary  purpose,  and  that  the  roof  which 
covers  the  church  should  not  shelter  the  other  miscellaneous 
activities  of  the  parish.  Parish  rooms  in  the  basement 
usually  involve  raising  the  floor  of  the  church  to  a  height 
eight  to  fifteen  feet  above  the  ground  level  in  order  to  give 
sufficient  head-room  in  the  basement.  A  church  thus  raised 
on  stilts,  with  a  basement  or  ground  floor  which  is  obviously 
used  for  miscellaneous  purposes,  can  never  present  as  beau¬ 
tiful  or  dignified  an  exterior  as  a  church  which  is  rooted 
close  to  the  ground.  Furthermore  a  considerable  flight  of 
steps  from  the  sidewalk  to  the  church  door  is  a  discourage¬ 
ment  to  the  old  and  the  infirm,  an  inconvenience  at  the 
time  of  weddings  and  funerals,  and  an  obstacle  to  ready 
entrance  which  even  the  young  and  vigorous  must  make  a 
conscious  effort  to  overcome.  Any  shopkeeper  knows  the 
advantage  of  having  a  shop  which  customers  can  enter 
with  but  a  single  step  from  the  street  level,  for  the  pur¬ 
chaser  will  turn  in  where  he  can  do  so  with  least  trouble. 
The  same  principle  applies  to  a  church.  The  objection  to 
locating  the  parish  house  beneath  the  church  is  weakest 


84 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


where  the  church  is  built  upon  sloping  ground.  In  such 
cases  it  is  often  possible  to  have  the  main  entrance  to 
the  house  of  worship  where  the  ground  is  highest,  using 
only  two  or  three  steps  from  the  street  level  to  the  entrance, 
and  to  locate  the  entrance  to  the  parish  house  at  the  other 
end  of  the  building,  where  the  ground  may  fall  away  enough 
to  give  sufficient  head-room.  Some  old  or  small  churches 
may  find  parish  rooms  in  the  basement  the  only  practicable 
arrangement,  but  it  is  not  a  desirable  one  where  it  can  be 
avoided. 

What  the  parish  house  should  contain. 

In  general  the  parish  house,  wherever  located,  should  be 
planned  to  accommodate  the  educational,  social  and  admin¬ 
istrative  functions  of  the  church.  There  should  be  a  sep¬ 
arate  coat  room  and  lavatory  for  each  sex.  For  social 
purposes  there  should  be  an  assembly  room  large  enough 
either  to  seat  comfortably  the  whole  Sunday-School,  with 
considerable  room  for  other  persons  who  may  wish  to 
attend  on  special  occasions,  or  to  accommodate  parish  meet¬ 
ings,  church  suppers,  church  fairs  and  similar  gatherings. 
It  should  be  designed  with  a  level  floor  and  movable  chairs, 
with  a  stage  at  one  end  large  enough  for  small  dramatic 
performances — if  the  church  discipline  does  not  forbid 
such  entertainments — and  with  equipment  for  a  lantern 
and  moving  pictures.  There  should  also  be  a  small  kitchen 
immediately  adjoining  the  assembly  room,  containing  a 
small  stove  and  other  equipment  for  making  coffee  or  pre¬ 
paring  simple  hot  dishes  for  parish  suppers,  and  sufficient 
shelves  for  the  storage  of  dishes  and  similar  equipment. 

For  its  educational  work,  in  addition  to  the  assembly 
room  used  by  the  Sunday-School  for  opening  and  closing 
services,  the  parish  house  should  contain  a  room  for  each 
class  in  the  Sunday-School.  Where  such  class  rooms  are 
lacking  it  is,  of  course,  possible  to  hold  classes  in  the  nooks 
and  corners  of  the  assembly  room  or  of  the  church  itself, 
but  such  shifts  are  far  from  desirable.  It  is  much  better, 
if  possible,  to  provide  a  room  for  each  class,  sufficiently 
lighted  and  ventilated. 

In  addition  to  provision  for  the  social  and  educational 


THE  PARISH  HOUSE 


85 


life  of  the  church,  parish  houses  should  also  include  suit¬ 
able  offices  for  church  administration.  Most  of  our  older 
churches  have  what  is  by  courtesy  called  ‘‘the  minister’s 
study,  ’  ’  where  he  may  deposit  his  coat  and  hat  before  going 
into  the  pulpit.  These  little  rooms  are  often  cold,  badly 
lighted  and  unattractive,  and  sometimes  are  littered  with 
old  hymn  books,  broken  furniture  and  other  lumber.  Some¬ 
times  the  choir  must  share  the  use  of  them  with  the  min¬ 
ister.  The  modern  church  should  be  planned  on  quite  a 
different  basis.  The  minister’s  study  and  the  church  office 
are  nowadays  recognized  as  a  necessary  part  of  the  equip¬ 
ment  of  a  modern  church.  There  should,  therefore,  be  a 
suitable  room  definitely  set  aside  as  the  minister’s  study, 
and  never  used  for  miscellaneous  purposes,  so  located  that 
he  can  quickly  step  from  it  into  the  chancel  or  pulpit  with¬ 
out  passing  through  the  assembly  room  or  the  body  of  the 
church,  and  easily  accessible  from  the  street,  preferably 
through  the  church  office  if  there  be  one.  It  should  be  well 
lighted,  ventilated  and  heated,  and  equipped  with  a  desk, 
chairs,  bookcases  and  filing  cases.  An  open  fireplace  will 
add  much  to  the  comfort  and  cheer  of  the  room.  A  sep¬ 
arate  lavatory  should  be  connected  with  the  study,  and 
a  closet  with  hangers  for  his  coat  and  his  black  silk  preach¬ 
ing  gown,  or  such  robes  as  he  may  wear  in  the  conduct  of 
the  church  service.  There  should  be  somewhere  in  the 
parish  house  a  small,  built-in  safe  to  hold  the  church  silver, 
record  books,  etc.,  and  probably  the  minister’s  study  is  as 
good  a  place  as  any  for  such  a  safe.  In  Roman  Catholic 
and  in  Protestant  Episcopal  churches  a  much  larger  equip¬ 
ment  is  required  in  the  way  of  receptacles,  to  hold  the  ves¬ 
sels  used  in  the  celebration  of  the  eucharist,  and  the  va¬ 
rious  ecclesiastical  garments  worn  by  the  priest,0  but  the 
foregoing  will  suffice  for  the  average  Protestant  church. 

The  church  office  should  be  a  separate  room.  It  is  essen¬ 
tial  in  any  church  large  enough  to  provide  a  parish  assist¬ 
ant  or  a  stenographer,  or  both,  for  its  minister.  The  church 
office  should  contain  all  the  equipment  for  keeping  the  rec¬ 
ords  of  the  church,  the  stenographer’s  typewriter  and  the 

*  See  DeWitt,  ‘ ‘ Decently  and  in  Order,’ ’  pp.  58-59,  for  a  brief 
statement  about  the  equipment  of  a  sacristy. 


86 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


parish  assistant’s  desk,  and  should  be  used  as  the  ante¬ 
room  for  visitors  coming  to  consult  with  the  minister,  who 
can  thus  be  protected  from  unnecessary  and  inconvenient 
intrusions. 

There  should  also  be  a  room  for  the  choir,  adjacent  to 
the  organ  and  with  immediate  access  to  the  choir  stalls, 
the  precise  location  depending  upon  the  plan  of  the  church, 
the  type  of  choir  employed,  and  the  form  of  service  used. 
The  choir  room  should  be  furnished  with  a  desk  for  the 
organist,  cases  to  contain  the  music  sheets  and  hymn  books, 
and  closets  or  racks  for  the  coats,  hats  and  umbrellas  of 
the  singers,  and  their  gowns  or  other  vestments,  if  the 
choir  be  a  vested  one.  The  best  arrangement  is  a  rod  with 
the  necessary  number  of  hangers,  with  a  shelf  above  for 
hats  and  a  row  of  boxes  beneath  for  overshoes.  In  the  case 
of  a  large,  mixed  choir,  separate  coat  rooms  should  be 
provided  for  men  and  women. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  PARSONAGE 

A  residence  for  the  minister. 

A  suitable  parsonage  is  a  valuable  asset  for  any  parish. 
In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  every  organized  parish  is 
required  to  maintain  a  dignified,  furnished  residence,  if 
possible  adjoining  the  church,  for  the  parish  priest  and  his 
assistant  clergy.  Except  in  mission  fields,  where  as  yet  it 
has  not  been  possible  to  purchase  or  erect  a  priest’s  house, 
the  Roman  priest  is  not  permitted  to  live  in  lodgings.  In 
this,  as  in  many  other  practical  matters,  the  Roman  Church 
exhibits  the  sagacity  born  of  long  experience.  It  early 
learned  that  to  do  his  best  work  the  priest  must  have  his 
own  residence,  where  he  can  live  with  sufficient  comfort 
to  sustain  good  health  and  with  a  dignity  which  will 
maintain  his  own  self-respect  and  the  regard  in  which  his 
parishioners  hold  him.  Living  in  his  own  house,  he  is  also 
better  protected  from  malicious  gossip  and  from  untimely 
interruptions.  The  older  Protestant  churches  have  also 
appreciated  the  value  of  a  suitable  residence  for  the  min¬ 
ister.  Anciently  in  England  no  church  might  be  conse¬ 
crated  unless  there  were  a  parsonage  and  glebe  attached  to 
it,  and  to-day  almost  every  Anglican  parish  church  has  its 
rectory  or  vicarage. 

In  the  United  States  the  custom  of  providing  a  par¬ 
sonage  varies  greatly  with  the  locality  and  with  denomi¬ 
national  usage.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  follow¬ 
ing  the  example  of  the  Church  of  England,  usually  expects 
to  provide  a  rectory  for  the  minister.  Almost  every 
Methodist  church  owns  a  parsonage,  and  most  Presbyterian 
churches  provide  a  manse.  In  other  bodies  such  provision 
is  less  common,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  a  church  adequately 

87 


88 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


equipped  with  a  good  parsonage  is  undoubtedly  in  a  more 
advantageous  position  in  the  matter  of  securing  a  desirable 
minister,  especially  in  times  when  there  is  a  shortage  of 
houses  in  the  community.  Many  a  church  has  failed  to 
secure  the  man  whom  it  had  called  to  its  pulpit  because  it 
could  offer  him  no  suitable  place  of  residence,  for  a  minister 
who  is  already  wrell  settled,  especially  if  he  have  a  family, 
is  much  less  likely  to  accept  a  call  to  another  field  if,  in 
making  such  a  change,  he  must  leave  a  comfortable  home, 
and  either  camp  out  for  an  indefinite  period  in  cramped 
quarters  or  pay  an  abnormally  high  rent  for  a  badly  located 
and  unsuitable  house.  Every  well  organized  and  estab¬ 
lished  parish,  should,  therefore,  consider  a  parsonage  as  a 
part  of  its  essential  equipment. 

Its  location. 

There  are,  however,  certain  practical  points  which  must 
be  carefully  considered  in  the  purchase  or  erection  of  such 
a  house.  The  first  is  the  question  of  location.  Where  the 
church  itself  is  located  in  a  residence  district,  and  land  is 
available,  it  is  best  to  erect  a  parsonage  immediately  ad¬ 
joining  the  church,  so  that  the  church,  parish  house,  and 
parsonage  form  a  consistent  architectural  group.  This 
desirable  arrangement  may  not  be  practicable  where  the 
church  is  an  old  one,  or  is  located  in  a  downtown  business 
district.  In  such  instances  the  parsonage  should  prefer¬ 
ably  be  built  in  that  residence  district  in  which  the  larger 
part  of  the  parishioners  themselves  live,  but,  if  possible, 
within  walking  distance  of  the  church.  The  parish  should 
avoid  the  choice,  on  the  one  hand,  of  a  too  fashionable 
street  where  the  standard  of  living  will  be  beyond  the  min¬ 
ister’s  salary,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  of  a  mean  street  in 
a  district  which  is  on  the  down  grade.  The  best  location 
for  a  parsonage  is  on  a  quiet  but  easily  found  side  street, 
where  professional  or  business  men  of  good  standing  live. 

In  small  towns  or  villages,  where  land  is  available,  it  is 
very  desirable  that  there  should  be  enough  ground  for  a 
small  vegetable  garden  and  a  few  fruit  trees.  Gardening  is 
a  healthful  relaxation  for  the  minister,  less  expensive  and 
more  appropriate  than  golf.  It  is  also  desirable  in  most 


THE  PARSONAGE 


89 


locations  that  there  should  be  a  small  garage  attached  to 
the  parsonage. 

Type  of  house  required L 

The  size  and  equipment  of  the  parsonage  should  not  be 
disproportionate  to  the  minister’s  salary.  This  dispropor¬ 
tion  is  likely  to  exist  only  when  some  parishioner  bequeaths 
a  dignified  residence,  with  perhaps  a  good  deal  of  ground 
about  it,  to  the  church  for  use  as  a  parsonage.  The  inten¬ 
tion  is  good,  but  the  residence  may  be  too  large  for  the 
minister,  costly  to  heat,  furnish,  and  keep  in  good  repair, 
with  the  lawns  and  flower  beds  so  extensive  as  to  require 
the  larger  part  of  a  man’s  time  to  keep  them  neat  and  in 
good  order.  If  the  parsonage  be  unendowed,  or  if  the  min¬ 
ister  has  no  private  means  to  supplement  his  salary,  such 
a  residence  may  become  a  great  burden  to  him.  One  finds 
such  a  condition  not  infrequently  in  England,  where  many 
a  rectory  is  a  residence  requiring  a  considerable  retinue  of 
servants  and  a  much  higher  expenditure  than  the  income 
of  the  parish  can  possibly  meet  to-day.  In  such  circum¬ 
stances  the  parish  is  practically  limited  in  its  choice  of 
ministers  to  those  few  men  who  have  private  means.  The 
only  way  out  of  such  a  situation  is  for  the  parish  either 
to  sell  the  residence  which  has  been  bequeathed  to  it  and 
with  the  proceeds  purchase  more  suitable  quarters,  or  to 
secure  an  endowment  for  the  parsonage,  the  income  of 
which  will  adequately  provide  for  the  necessary  periodical 
repairs,  pay  for  the  upkeep  of  the  grounds,  and  meet 
charges  for  heat  and  light.  Even  where  such  an  endow¬ 
ment  is  available  the  parish  should  remember  that  the 
minister ’s  salary  must  be  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  live  in 
a  way  answerable  to  the  residence  which  he  occupies.  It 
is  not  fair  to  put  the  minister  and  his  family  into  some  fine 
old  mansion  which  has  been  bequeathed  to  the  parish  unless 
he  is  also  paid  a  salary  which  will  enable  him  to  maintain 
himself  respectably  in  the  house  in  which  he  must  live. 

One  of  the  difficulties  in  planning  a  parsonage  for  a 
Protestant  church  lies  in  the  marked  variations  in  housing 
requirements  of  successive  ministers.  The  minister  for 
whom  the  parsonage  is  purchased  or  built  may  be,  for 


90 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


example,  a  married  man  without  children.  His  successor 
may  have  a  family  of  four  or  five  children.  His  successor 
in  turn  may  be  a  bachelor.  In  view  of  these  possibilities 
the  only  thing  which  the  parish  can  do  is  to  build  a  house 
suitable  for  an  average  family;  sufficient,  let  us  say,  to 
accommodate  the  minister,  his  wife,  and  three  children, 
with  one  guest  room  and  one  or  two  servants’  rooms  in 
communities  in  which  domestic  service  mav  be  available, 
and  at  least  two  bathrooms.  The  childless  minister,  who 
does  not  need  to  use  the  whole  house,  can  either  close  some 
of  the  rooms  or  rent  them  to  lodgers.  Even  if  there  is  an 
office  or  minister’s  room  at  the  church,  the  minister  should 
also  have  a  study  in  the  parsonage  to  which  he  can  retire. 
This  room  should  not  be  located  on  the  ground  floor  with 
an  outside  entrance  to  which  visitors  may  come  directly, 
thus  depriving  the  minister  of  any  protection  against  inter¬ 
ruption,  but  is  best  located  in  the  top  of  the  house  where 
he  will  be  less  easily  disturbed. 

Furnishing  the  parsonage. 

It  is  also  desirable  that  the  parsonage  should  be  at  least 
partly  furnished,  since  many  ministers  do  not  own  enough 
furniture  adequately  to  furnish  a  house,  or,  if  they  are 
called  from  a  distant  part  of  the  country,  find  it  very 
expensive  to  ship  for  considerable  distances  belongings 
which  may  not  be  really  worth  the  cost  of  transportation. 
Such  furniture  as  is  provided  should  be  plain  and  simple, 
but  substantial  and  in  good  taste — not  dilapidated  odds 
and  ends  left  behind  by  preceding  ministers,  or  ugly  pieces 
of  a  bygone  style  discarded  by  the  children  of  deceased 
parishioners  of  wealth,  and  foisted  upon  the  long-suffering 
minister.  Due  allowance  for  wear  and  tear  and  breakage 
of  furniture  should  be  made  in  calculating  the  necessary 
expenditures  for  the  maintenance  of  the  property. 

Maintenance  of  the  parsonage. 

In  the  Roman  Church  and  in  the  Church  of  England  the 
incumbent  is  responsible  for  repairs  and  maintenance  of 
the  priest’s  residence.  It  should  be  remembered,  however, 
that  in  those  churches  the  priest  has  a  much  greater  con- 


THE  PARSONAGE 


91 


trol  over  the  finances  of  the  parish  than  is  the  case  in  most 
Protestant  communions  in  this  country,  in  which  the  min¬ 
ister  generally  has  no  authority  to  spend  the  money  of  the 
church.  In  these  latter  bodies,  therefore,  the  minister 
should  not  be  expected  or  required  to  pay  any  part  of  such 
charges,  but  the  upkeep  of  the  parsonage  should  be  under 
control  of  the  Committee  on  Grounds  and  Buildings,  or  of 
a  sub-committee,  who  should  be  scrupulously  careful  to  see 
that  the  parsonage  is  kept  in  good  repair.  Unless  the 
responsibility  for  the  maintenance  of  the  parsonage  is  defi¬ 
nitely  placed  upon  a  single  committee,  what  is  everybody’s 
business  becomes  nobody’s  business.  It  is  frequently  ob¬ 
served  that  an  institution  makes  a  poor  landlord — that  a 
church  is  more  niggardly  in  the  maintenance  of  its  minis¬ 
ter’s  residence  or  a  college  in  the  maintenance  of  its  pro¬ 
fessors’  houses  than  the  average  landlord  who  is  dependent 
upon  rents  for  his  income.  The  minister  is  not  in  the 
position  of  an  ordinary  tenant  who  can  move  to  another 
residence  if  his  landlord  does  not  adequately  maintain  the 
property,  for  the  minister  usually  must  either  live  in  the 
parsonage,  no  matter  how  shabby  it  may  be,  or  quit  the 
parish.  Furthermore,  the  minister  is  in  a  position  in  which 
it  is  difficult  for  him  to  demand  repairs  or  improvements 
which  he  would  not  hesitate  to  ask  of  an  average  landlord. 
All  the  more  is  the  parish  under  moral  obligation  to  main¬ 
tain  the  parsonage  in  good  order;  to  make  sure  that  the 
roof  is  tight,  that  the  house  is  painted  when  necessary,  that 
the  furnace  is  adequate,  that  the  walls  are  repapered  when 
they  become  soiled,  and  that  the  whole  property  is  suitably 
kept  up.  It  is  a  good  rule  for  the  Committee  on  Grounds 
and  Buildings  to  go  over  the  parsonage  every  fourth  year 
for  minor  repairs,  and  every  eighth  year  for  a  thorough 
overhauling.  Inasmuch  as  this  will  involve  the  periodical 
expenditure  of  considerable  sums  of  money,  it  is  advisable 
that  the  annual  church  budget  should  include  a  fixed  sum 
to  be  set  aside  for  repairs  on  the  church  and  parsonage,  so 
that  money  will  be  available  when  needed.  Otherwise  it 
will  become  necessary  to  raise  a  special  fund  whenever  any 
substantial  repairs  are  required. 

It  is  natural  and  proper  that  a  parish  should  feel  a 


92 


THE  MINISTER  AND  *HIS  PARISH 


sense  of  pride  in  its  ownership  and  due  maintenance,  of  the 
parsonage,  but  the  Committee  on  Grounds  and  Buildings, 
and  the  parish  as  a  whole,  should  recognize  that  the  par¬ 
sonage  is  the  home  of  the  minister  and  of  his  family  in  pre¬ 
cisely  the  same  sense  as  if  he  were  occupying  a  privately 
rented  house.  Parishioners,  therefore,  should  not  treat  the 
parsonage  as  semi-public  property  which  they  are  at  liberty 
to  commandeer  regardless  of  the  convenience  of  the  min¬ 
ister  and  his  wife;  and  this  applies  equally  to  the  parson¬ 
age  furnishings,  which  should  be  borrowed  for  parish 
parties  and  similar  occasions  only  in  that  measure  in  which 
any  member  of  the  church  might  be  asked  to  loan  articles 
for  such  church  purposes. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  CHURCH  FINANCES 

In  the  administration  of  a  parish  it  should  never  be  for¬ 
gotten  that  no  church  exists  for  its  own  sake,  but  only  for 
the  community  in  which  it  is  placed,  for  the  human  souls 
which  it  can  serve.  Its  purpose  should  never  be  either  mere 
self-perpetuation  or  self-aggrandizement,  but  the  mobiliza¬ 
tion  and  expenditure  of  all  its  powers,  material,  moral,  and 
spiritual,  for  constructive  work  in  the  lives  of  the  men  and 
women  whom  it  is  able  to  touch.  That  church  is  a  success 
which  is  able  to  gather  up  and  to  expend  approximately  its 
full  strength,  be  that  strength  little  or  great.  That  church 
is  in  some  degree  a  failure  which  lacks  the  will  or  the 
ability  both  to  gather  up  and  to  expend  the  power  of  which 
it  is  capable. 

Businesslike  methods. 

Businesslike  methods  in  the  financial  administration  of 
a  church  are  of  vital  importance  to  its  welfare.  Inefficient 
administration,  hand-to-mouth  ways  of  raising  money,  care¬ 
lessness  or  tardiness  in  the  payment  of  bills,  usually  indi¬ 
cate  low  vitality  in  a  church,  and  are  a  constant  source  of 
danger  and  an  invitation  to  financial  calamity.  They  are 
the  result  sometimes  of  ignorance  or  of  timidity  on  the  part 
of  the  minister,  but  more  commonly  of  negligence  and 
indifference  on  the  part  of  the  laymen,  who  frequently  do 
not  consult  the  minister  about  the  business  affairs  of  the 
church  and  resent  or  disregard  suggestions  from  him.  Not 
infrequently  the  laymen  of  a  church  shirk  a  large  measure 
of  their  responsibility,  either  because  the  business  is  con¬ 
ducted  by  a  little  group  who  do  not  take  the  parish  as  a 
whole  into  their  confidence,  or  because  the  affairs  of  the 

93 


94 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


church  seem  to  them  trivial  and  unimportant,  with  the 
result  that  church  business  is  administered  with  a  slackness 
which  these  same  men  would  recognize  as  disastrous  in  a 
commercial  enterprise.  The  financial  problem  of  many  a 
church  would  be  well  on  the  way  toward  solution  if  the 
business  men  of  the  parish  would  hold  themselves  respon¬ 
sible  for  the  establishment  and  faithful  administration  of 
sound  business  methods  in  its  affairs. 

The  minister’s  responsibility . 

The  theory  that  the  minister  should  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  business  affairs  of  the  church  is  a  sound  one  in  so 
far  as  it  means  that  he  should  be  relieved  of  all  responsi¬ 
bility  for  raising  or  administering  the  income  of  the 
church.  His  relation  to  the  trustees  of  the  church,  how¬ 
ever,  is  in  certain  aspects  not  very  unlike  that  of  the 
manager  of  a  cotton  mill  to  its  board  of  directors.  He 
should  be  invited  to  sit  with  the  board  and  enter  into  its 
counsels  save  on  exceptional  occasions,  and  he  is  entitled 
to  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  business  affairs  of  the 
parish  to  which  he  ministers,  especially  as  only  too  often  his 
professional  success  is  largely  measured  by  the  financial 
condition  of  the  church.  It  is  true  that  a  minister  of 
deeply  spiritual  nature  and  gifted  with  unusual  preaching 
ability  may  cause  his  church  to  grow  in  spite  of  the  handi¬ 
cap  of  inefficient  administration  by  the  laymen,  but  poor 
business  methods  will  be  an  unnecessary  drag  upon  an 
otherwise  successful  ministry.  Fortunately  it  frequently 
happens  that  vigor  and  spiritual  power  in  the  pulpit  so 
stimulate  the  congregation  that  they  develop  into  a  careful 
and  well-managed  organization.  Such  a  result  is  almost 
certain  evidence  that  the  church  is  spiritually  sound,  where¬ 
as  continuance  in  slipshod  methods  is  almost  equally  posi¬ 
tive  evidence  of  spiritual  decay.  “When  the  temporalities 
go  wrong,’ 1  wrote  a  wise  Roman  Catholic  bishop,  “the  spir¬ 
itualities  are  sure  to  get  into  disorder.”  Efficient  admin¬ 
istration,  in  raising  money  so  that  an  adequate  income  is 
secured  for  the  work  of  the  church,  in  prompt  payment  of 
bills,  and  in  making  a  complete  public  report  of  income  and 
expenditure,  will  build  up  the  self-respect  of  the  parish 


CHURCH  FINANCE 


95 


and  gain  the  respect  of  the  community,  which  unhappily 
has  only  too  good  reason  for  surprise  when  a  church  trans¬ 
acts  its  affairs  with  scrupulous  care.  It  is  particularly 
important  that  the  church  should  make  full  and  prompt 
payment  for  all  goods  received  or  professional  services  ren¬ 
dered,  without  soliciting  special  discounts,  or  gratuitous 
service  from,  for  example,  a  lawyer  or  an  architect,  even 
though  they  be  church  members,  unless  it  be  freely  offered 
as  a  contribution  to  the  church. 

Miscellaneous  sources  of  income:  (a)  plate  collections. 

It  is  essential  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  money  needed 
should  be  secured  from  dependable  sources,  allowing  only 
a  small  margin  for  income  raised  by  the  uncertainties  of 
plate  collections,  by  church  fairs,  or  by  the  rental  of  the 
church  property  for  miscellaneous  purposes.  Income  from 
these  latter  sources  should  be  regarded  as  windfalls,  being 
uncertain  and  fortuitous  additions  to  the  revenue  of  the 
church.  The  practice  of  taking  up  a  collection  during  the 
service  of  worship  is  strongly  to  be  commended.  It  was 
the  usage  of  the  early  church  and  is  the  habit  of  many 
branches  of  modern  Christianity.  The  collection  offers  the 
most  convenient  opportunity  for  many  persons,  especially 
of  small  means,  or  visitors,  to  make  their  financial  contribu¬ 
tion  to  the  church.  It  symbolizes  the  duty  of  the  Christian 
to  give  as  well  as  to  receive.  But  it  should  be  made  a 
formal  part  of  the  service,  and  never  be  merely  a  mercenary 
solicitation.  In  churches  of  very  limited  resources  it  will 
be  necessary  to  use  the  collection  for  the  running  expenses 
of  the  church,  but  wherever  possible  it  is  better  to  set  it 
aside  for  special  purposes,  announced  beforehand. 

The  plate  collections  taken  up  in  church  should  be  car¬ 
ried  to  the  church  office  or  the  minister’s  study,  immedi¬ 
ately  after  the  close  of  worship,  by  the  treasurer,  or  in  his 
absence  by  some  other  church  officer,  and  should  be  there 
counted.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  two  persons  count  the 
money  together.  The  amount  should  be  noted  on  a  slip  of 
paper  and  initialed  by  one  or  both  of  those  who  have 
counted  it.  This  procedure  will  protect  the  treasurer 
against  the  possibility  of  malicious  gossip  which  may  arise 


96 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


if  he  is  careless  in  handling  the  church  money.  Some 
church  treasurers,  for  instance,  simply  scoop  the  money 
into  their  own  pockets,  count  it  alone  at  home,  and  report 
the  amounts  only  in  their  monthly  or  annual  statements. 
Probably  not  one  man  in  a  thousand  who  does  this  is  dis¬ 
honest,  but  the  method  is  none  the  less  objectionable.1 
Care  should  be  taken  that  the  collection  is  not  left  lying 
in  the  plates,  and  the  sexton  should  never  handle  it,  not 
that  sextons  are  any  less  honest  than  other  men  but  simply 
because  it  is  not  fair  to  put  temptation  in  their  way  and 
to  subject  them  to  possible  suspicion.  Therefore,  if  no 
church  officer  is  at  hand  to  take  care  of  the  money,  the 
minister  should  do  so  himself,  either  turning  over  the 
cash  or  sending  a  check  to  the  treasurer  on  Monday 
morning. 

In  the  same  way  the  cash  boxes  near  the  door  of  the 
church,  if  there  be  any,  should  be  regularly  emptied  and 
the  amounts  counted  and  noted  by  the  treasurer  or  his 
deputy.  This  should  be  done  at  least  weekly ;  in  a  much 
frequented  church  it  may  be  necessary  daily,  since  in 
large  cities  such  boxes  are  always  a  temptation  to  sneak 
thieves. 

1  The  following  quotation  from  The  Churchman  of  March  21,  1914, 
illustrates  this  point : 

“We  know  of  one  parish  where  the  treasurer  was  accustomed  to 
report  to  his  rector  the  amount  of  the  Sunday  offering  without 
troubling  to  count  it.  He  ‘estimated’  it  by  •  its  bulk  and  carried 
it  home  to  deposit  in  the  bank  the  next  day.  No  one  but  the  treas¬ 
urer  could  possibly  know  the  exact  amount.  He  had  held  the  office 
for  years.  Everyone  knew  him  and  his  honesty  was  unquestioned. 

‘  ‘  Eventually  this  man  incurred  the  enmity  of  certain  malicious 
persons  in  the  community.  Little  insinuations  were  passed  which 
gained  in  volume  as  they  traveled.  The  congregation  suddenly 
realized  that  it  had  no  means  of  knowing  if  its  funds  were  accu¬ 
rately  accounted  for;  its  confidence  was  shaken  and  its  gifts  shrank. 
The  vestry  could  not  act  without  giving  offense  and  positive  proofs 
of  irregularity  were  lacking.  The  treasurer  could  not  resign  his 
office  without  seeming  to  admit  his  guilt.  It  was  a  most  distressing 
situation,  which  might  easily  have  been  avoided  had  the  vestry  been 
required,  say  by  a  diocesan  canon,  to  protect  its  treasurer,  and  its 
treasury,  by  some  simple  provision  for  checks  and  audits.  It  is 
something  which  every  parish  treasurer  should  demand  for  his  own 
security. 9  ’ 


CHURCH  FINANCE 


97 


(b)  The  church  fair . 

The  church  fair  is  economically  wasteful,  and  is  a  poor 
means  of  raising  money  for  running  expenses,  but  may  be 
justified  as  a  successful  method  of  bringing  together  people 
of  diverse  social  groups  in  work  for  some  common  interest, 
for  which  special  funds  are  necessary.  The  holding  of 
raffles  for  any  purpose  whatsoever  should  be  absolutely  for¬ 
bidden,  as  should  card  parties  and  every  other  dubious 
method  of  making  money.  No  church  should  ever  solicit 
contributions  from  outsiders,  particularly  in  the  form  of 
holding  up  local  shopkeepers  for  donations — a  singu¬ 
larly  mean  and  improper  way  of  raising  money. 

(c)  Renting  the  church  property. 

The  practice  of  renting  the  church  or  parish  house  for 
miscellaneous  meetings  not  associated  with  the  work  of 
the  church  should  be  avoided  whenever  possible,  since  it  is 
almost  always  disadvantageous  to  the  church.  If  the  use 
of  the  property  is  asked  for  some  lecture  of  genuine  educa¬ 
tional  value,  or  for  a  community  welfare  meeting,  it  should 
be  given  without  charge,  except,  perhaps,  for  a  fee  sufficient 
to  cover  the  expenses  actually  incurred  for  extra  heat, 
light  and  service. 

A  church  should  never  make  any  rental  charge  for  the 
use  of  its  building  for  special  services,  such  as  christenings, 
weddings,  or  funerals,  even  in  the  case  of  persons  who  do 
not  belong  to  the  parish,  although  it  may  properly  charge 
fees  to  cover  the  cost  of  expenses  actually  incurred  in  con¬ 
nection  with  such  services,  such  as  additional  payments  to 
the  sexton  or  the  organist.  Such  fees,  however,  should  be 
on  a  fixed  scale,  approved  by  the  governing  board  of  the 
church,  and  printed  in  a  form  which  can  be  handed  to 
persons  desiring  the  use  of  the  church,  so  that  they  may 
know  in  advance  what  the  charges  will  be  and  may  make 
their  plans  accordingly.  One  important  city  church  keeps 
on  hand  the  following  schedule  which  will  serve  as  a 
sample : 


98 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


(NAME  OF  THE  CHURCH) 

(Location) 

Charges  for  Special  Services  in  the  Church  ( Christenings ,  Wed¬ 
dings,  and  Funerals),  Fixed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees 

There  is  no  charge  for  the  use  of  the  church  building  for  these 
services,  whether  in  the  case  of  parishioners  or  of  strangers. 

The  sexton  is  entitled  to  a  fee  of  $5.00  in  cases  where  he  has 
to  open  the  church  especially  for  the  occasion,  or  render  other 
specific  services,  but  not  otherwise. 

The  organist  is  entitled  to  a  fee  of  $25.00  in  cases  where  he 
comes  to  the  church  for  a  special  service.  No  person  other  than 
the  regular  organist  of  the  church  is  permitted  to  use  the  organ 
without  the  organist’s  knowledge  and  consent. 

The  members  of  the  choir  (quartet)  are  entitled  to  a  fee  of 
$5.00  each  in  cases  where  they  come  to  the  church  for  a  special 
service.  If  singers  other  than  the  regular  choir  are  desired 
arrangements  must  be  made  with  the  organist. 

If  an  awning  is  required  at  the  church  porch  the  charge  for 
setting  it  up  will  be  $10.00,  payable  to  the  Smith  Awning 
Company. 

If  a  police  officer  is  required  at  the  church  door  the  charge  will 
be  $3.00,  payable  to  the  Police  Department. 

Persons  who  desire  a  simple  service  at  an  hour  when  the  church 
is  in  any  case  open  are  under  no  obligation  to  incur  any  of  the 
above-mentioned  fees,  which  are  payable  only  for  services 
rendered  upon  request. 

The  minister  makes  no  charge  for  his  services,  and,  in  the  case 
of  funerals,  if  a  charge  for  the  minister  is  entered  on  the  under¬ 
taker’s  bill,  it  should  not  be  paid.  The  minister  is,  however,  at 
liberty  to  accept  free-will  offerings,  either  for  himself  or  for  the 
benefit  of  the  church,  from  such  persons  as  choose  to  send  them 
after  any  special  service,  and  he  is  entitled  to  re-imbursement 
for  any  expenses  which  he  may  incur  in  connection  with  the 
service. 

No  special  service  shall  be  conducted  in  this  church  by  any 
person  other  than  the  settled  minister  thereof  without  his  knowl¬ 
edge  and  consent,  or,  in  the  case  of  his  absence,  that  of  the 
chairman  or  other  ranking  officer  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

The  proprietary  system. 

Three  methods  of  providing  a  fairly  assured  income  are 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  use  among  the  churches  of 
this  country,  viz.,  the  proprietary  system;  the  pew-rental 


CHURCH  FINANCE 


99 


system;  and  the  free-pew  or  subscription  system.  Before 
the  Reformation  all  parish  churches  and  cathedrals  were 
open  to  all  persons  on  equal  terms.  The  custom  of  assign¬ 
ing  seats  to  parishioners  came  in  after  the  Reformation. 
In  this  country  the  proprietary  system  is  an  inheritance 
from  the  eighteenth  century,  now  found  only  in  our  older 
churches.  Under  this  system  the  parishioner  purchases  the 
legal  title  to  a  pew  in  the  church,  and  thereby  becomes  a 
“proprietor”  and  voter, — in  effect  a  stockholder.  The 
pew  is  a  part  of  the  estate  of  the  holder,  being  classed  as 
personal  property  in  Massachusetts,  and  as  such  can  be 
disposed  of  by  sale  or  bequest,  though  usually  under  condi¬ 
tions  prescribed  by  the  church.  The  right  of  the  owner  is 
limited,  however,  to  use  at  the  usual  times  of  divine  service, 
and  he  cannot  use  it  for  any  other  purposes.  His  rights, 
that  is,  are  subordinated  to  those  of  the  congregation.  In 
a  proprietary  church  the  income  of  the  church  comes  from 
the  taxes  levied  annually  upon  each  pew  for  a  propor¬ 
tionate  amount  of  the  church  expenses.  This  was  the 
normal  method  of  church  finance  in  many  of  our  older, 
well-established  communities  during  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth  centuries,  and  under  the  conditions  of  that 
period  did  produce  stable  and  dependable  income.  It  is, 
however,  open  to  many  objections.  It  is  undemocratic, 
since  only  proprietors  may  vote,  and  thus  many  regular 
attendants  of  worship  may  be  excluded  from  the  fran¬ 
chise  ;  it  tends  to  give  the  control  of  the  church  into  a  few 
hands ;  and  often,  in  the  passage  of  time,  results  in  the 
possession  of  pews  and  votes  by  persons  who  care  abso¬ 
lutely  nothing  for  the  church  save  as  it  represents  for  them 
an  investment  of  some  financial  or  social  value.  No  newly 
organized  society  should,  therefore,  adopt  this  method  of 
raising  money. 

The  pew-rental  system. 

The  second  system  is  the  pew-rental  system,  in  which  the 
society  owns  the  pews,  but  secures  its  income  by  renting 
them  out  for  sums  which  vary  according  to  the  desirability 
of  the  pew.  This  method  is  more  common,  and  open  to 
fewer  objections  than  the  proprietary  system,  but  also  is 


100 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


undemocratic,  giving  the  best  seats  to  those  who  pay  most, 
and  often  withholding  a  vote  from  those  who  may  attend 
church  habitually  but  who  cannot  afford  to  rent  a  pew. 
The  strongest  argument  for  this  method,  as  for  the  pro¬ 
prietary  system,  is  that  the  income  to  be  derived  from  pew 
rents,  like  that  from  taxes  on  pews,  can  be  closely  calculated 
and  is  not  subject  to  rapid  fluctuations.  These  advantages, 
however,  may  be  secured  in  almost  as  great  degree  if  the 
subscription,  or  “free-pew”  system,  is  carefully  adminis¬ 
tered,  without  the  moral  and  spiritual  drawbacks  involved 
in  the  older  methods.  Presumably,  therefore,  a  newly 
organized  society,  or  one  moving  into  a  new  church  build¬ 
ing,  will  avoid  the  pew-rental  system. 

The  subscription,  or  free-pew  system. 

The  third  method,  used  in  churches  in  which  pews  are 
neither  individually  owned  nor  rented,  but  in  which  all 
sittings  are  free,  is  the  subscription  system.  In  churches 
financially  administered  by  this  method  the  bulk  of  the 
income  is  raised  by  inviting  members  and  attendants  to 
subscribe  annually  such  amounts  as  they  feel  able  to  give, 
to  be  paid  in  quarterly,  monthly  or  weekly  installments. 
This  “free-pew”  system  is  the  most  modern  and  demo¬ 
cratic  way  of  financing  a  church,  and  is  in  wide  use  today 
among  Protestant  churches. 

Not  infrequently  an  old  church  resorts  to  a  combination 
of  these  methods,  a  proprietary  church  often  also  renting 
pews,  or  a  pew-renting  church  also  collecting  subscriptions 
from  non-renters,  or  a  church  which  has  sold  or  rented 
pews  in  the  past  may  gradually  change  to  the  subscription 
basis,  often  with  excellent  results,  both  financial  and  spir¬ 
itual.  Such  a  change  of  method  is  generally  desirable,  and 
should  be  brought  about  where  practicable.  Mixed  meth¬ 
ods  of  finance  are  undesirable  except  in  a  transition  period, 
or  where  legal  entanglements  inherited  from  the  past 
prevent  the  complete  application  of  the  free-pew  system. 

The  hud  get. 

It  is  essential  that  the  treasurer  should  know  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  what  regular  income  the  church 


CHURCH  FINANCE 


101 


can  depend  upon,  whether  from  pew  taxes,  pew  rents,  or 
subscriptions,  and  that  the  budget  should  be  cut  so  as  not 
to  exceed  the  promised  income  except  in  small  amount. 
The  system,  or  rather  lack  of  system,  followed  by  churches 
which  habitually  overspend  their  income,  and  at  the  end  of 
each  year  face  a  deficit  which  has  to  be  made  up  by  appeal¬ 
ing  to  a  few  rich  men  in  the  congregation,  is  bad  from 
every  point  of  view,  and  should  be  completely  abandoned. 
It  is  merely  hand-to-mouth  finance ;  it  involves  a  lack  of 
self-respect;  it  is  liable  to  lead  to  disastrous  results  when 
the  wealthy  givers  die,  leave  town,  or  weary  of  continually 
making  up  the  deficits.  Methods  should,  therefore,  be 
adopted  which  will  result  in  placing  in  the  treasurer’s 
hands  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  definite  subscriptions 
or  pledges  which  very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  equal  the  esti¬ 
mated  expenditures.  Individuals  are  sometimes  reluctant 
to  commit  themselves  to  a  definite  contribution,  but  the 
society  as  a  whole  must  commit  itself  to  a  stated  expendi¬ 
ture,  and  its  individual  members  ought  to  take  their 
share  of  the  responsibility.  In  the  few  cases  in  which 
a  subscriber  proves  unable  or  unwilling  to  pay  his  con¬ 
tribution,  it  is  very  seldom  advisable  to  force  payment  by 
legal  action.  Losses  from  this  source  will  seldom  average 
more  than  one  or  two  per  cent  a  year,  except  in  some 
great  financial  crisis  when  a  whole  community  may  be  im¬ 
poverished. 

It  is  easier  and  pleasanter  to  get  an  adequate  number  of 
contributions  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  than  later  to 
beg  for  money  to  pay  a  deficit  which  grows  larger  the 
longer  it  is  shirked.  The  Board  of  Trustees  should,  there¬ 
fore,  prepare  a  carefully  studied  budget,  which  should  be 
submitted,  in  printed  or  typewritten  form,  at  the  annual 
parish  meeting,  showing  the  amount  which  the  church  will 
presumably  be  called  upon  to  spend  during  the  ensuing 
year.  It  is  only  fair  to  contributors  that  they  should  be 
informed  in  advance  how  much  money  will  be  needed,  and 
that  they  should  have  opportunity  to  discuss  expenditures. 
A  well-planned  budget  will  greatly  lessen  the  risk  of  a 
deficit  at  the  end  of  the  year,  whereas  haphazard  expendi¬ 
ture  is  very  liable  to  leave  the  church  in  debt. 


102 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  treasurer’s  report. 

The  annual  report  of  the  treasurer  should  also  be  sub¬ 
mitted  in  printed  form  (or  typewritten  or  mimeographed 
where  cheaper),  and  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  every 
person  attending  the  annual  meeting.  Reference  to  printed 
or  typewritten  copies  is  essential  to  any  intelligent  under¬ 
standing  of  the  statement,  and  prevents  the  suspicion  that 
something  is  being  withheld  from  examination  or  criticism. 

The  financial  statement  should  contain, 

(a)  The  treasurer’s  itemized  report  of  all  receipts,  ex¬ 
penditures  and  balances,  which  should  check 
exactly  with  the  treasurer’s  books  as  verified  by 
auditors. 

(5)  A  statement  of  any  adjustments  necessary  to  show 
the  actual  income  and  charges  belonging  to  the 
year,  whether  paid  within  the  year  or  not.  (This 
may  be  omitted  where  the  adjustments  are  so 
small  in  amount  as  to  make  inclusion  unneces¬ 
sary.) 

(c)  A  statement  of  current  assets  and  liabilities. 

(d)  A  statement  of  all  important  increases  and  decreases 

as  compared  with  the  items  of  the  preceding  year. 
(In  the  printed  report  these  items  may  be  con¬ 
veniently  shown  by  setting  them  in  a  column  on 
the  left-hand  side  of  the  statement,  parallel 
with  (a). 

(e)  A  statement  as  to  any  endowment  funds  held  by  the 

society. 

(/)  A  statement  by  a  professional  auditor,  or  by  the 
auditing  committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
showing  that  the  treasurer’s  accounts  and  vouch¬ 
ers  have  been  examined  and  found  correct. 

(g)  The  itemized  budget  for  the  new  fiscal  year,  recom¬ 
mended  by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  subject  to  dis¬ 
cussion  and  adoption  by  the  meeting.  Any  im¬ 
portant  increases  or  decreases  should  be  shown 
and  explained. 

It  is  often  helpful  to  include  a  classified  list  of  last  year ’s 
subscriptions,  thus :  one  at  $500 ;  three  at  $100  or  over ; 


CHURCH  FINANCE 


103 


five  at  $75;  ten  at  $50,  etc.,  down  to  the  lowest  amounts, 
so  that  the  subscriber  may  more  easily  judge  what  amount 
it  is  appropriate  for  him  to  give.  But  the  subscription 
lists  showing  the  names  and  contributions  of  each  indi¬ 
vidual  giver  should  never  be  published,  and  should  be  held 
confidential  by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  since  many  indi¬ 
viduals  greatly  object  to  any  announcement  of  the  amount 
of  their  contribution,  and  are  entitled  to  have  their  wishes 
respected.  Items  of  expenditure  should  be  classified  under 
several  heads,  e.g.,  salaries ;  music,  grounds  and  buildings ; 
benevolences,  etc. 

Methods  of  securing  subscriptions. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  parish,  at  which  are  pre¬ 
sented  the  treasurer’s  report  for  the  closing  year  and  the 
budget  for  the  new  fiscal  year,  is  the  best  and  most  appro¬ 
priate  time  for  securing  contributions.  As  large  an  attend¬ 
ance  as  possible  should  be  drawn  out,  using  pulpit,  press 
and  circular  notices,  and  personal  effort,  and,  where  pos¬ 
sible,  there  should  be  a  parish  supper  before  or  after  the 
meeting.  This  latter  feature  gives  a  social  character  to 
the  gathering  which  attracts  the  less  devoted  adherents 
of  the  church  and  gives  the  trustees  a  desirable  opportunity 
of  interesting  them.  At  the  meeting  there  should  be  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  ask  questions  about  the  treasurer’s  report,  after 
which  the  budget  for  the  ensuing  year  should  be  discussed 
and  voted  item  by  item,  at  least  for  the  chief  items.  The 
people  should  have  a  real  voice  in  the  business,  and  should 
commit  themselves  to  the  proposed  expenditures,  instead 
of  simply  accepting  what  has  already  been  settled  for 
them  by  the  trustees.  When  this  has  been  done  sub¬ 
scription  cards  should  be  passed  about  and  subscriptions 
invited. 

The  most  convenient  form  of  subscription  card  is  one  of 
standard  size  and  shape,  easy  to  file,  with  a  column  of 
amounts  ranging,  say,  from  $500  down  to  $1,  against  which 
the  subscriber  may  indicate  by  an  X  the  amount  of  his 
pledge,  and  also  the  way  of  paying  it,  whether  annually, 
quarterly,  monthly,  or  weekly.  Every  individual  should  be 
urged  to  subscribe,  no  matter  how  small  the  amount  some 


104 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


may  be  able  to  give.  The  young  people  of  the  church  espe¬ 
cially  should  not  be  overlooked,  but  should  be  invited  to 
give  what  they  can,  that  they  may  early  begin  to  cultivate 
the  habit  of  sharing  in  the  support  of  their  church.  The 
real  strength  of  the  finances  of  the  church  does  not  lie  in 
a  few  large  subscriptions,  which  are  liable  sooner  or  later 
to  fail,  but  in  securing  a  large  number  of  small  subscrip¬ 
tions.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  “it  is  the  small  sub¬ 
scriptions  which  pay  the  bills.  ’ y  Furthermore,  there  is 
always  danger  that  the  large  giver  may  attempt  to  exercise 
an  undue  measure  of  control  over  the  church,  forgetting 
that  no  gift  of  money  can  purchase  the  right  to  dictate  the 
policy  of  the  church  or  to  influence  the  pulpit.  The  larger 
the  number  of  subscribers  the  less  will  be  this  danger, 
therefore  the  envelope  system  should  be  adopted  for  those 
who  desire  to  give  small  weekly  contributions,  even  though 
this  involve  an  increased  amount  of  clerical  work  for  the 
treasurer.  The  subscription  cards  should  be  collected  and 
the  results  reported  before  the  meeting  adjourns.  The 
financial  statement  and  appeal  for  subscriptions  at  the 
meeting  should  be  brief  and  to  the  point,  and  care  should 
be  taken  not  to  overurge  people  to  give.  The  subscription 
card  should  not  be  a  demand,  but  an  invitation  to  join  in 
constructive  religious  work  for  the  welfare  of  the  com¬ 
munity  and  for  wider  missionary  endeavor. 

As  soon  as  practicable  after  the  annual  meeting  a  letter 
should  be  sent,  in  the  name  of  the  trustees,  to  all  who  have 
not  yet  subscribed  but  who  may  be  reasonably  expected  to 
do  so.  This  letter  should  be  accompanied  by  printed  copies 
of  the  treasurer’s  report  and  of  the  budget.  It  should  not 
be  sent  in  one-cent  circular  envelopes,  but  should  be  per¬ 
sonally  signed  by  one  or  more  trustees,  and  sealed.  The 
letter  should  say  that  a  personal  call  will  be  made  within 
a  few  days  if  further  information  is  desired,  but  should 
ask  that  if  convenient  the  subscription  card  be  returned 
by  mail  to  save  trouble.  Those  who  do  not  send  in  a  sub¬ 
scription  should  be  visited  by  representatives  of  the  church 
a  few  days  later.  The  committee  appointed  to  do  the 
calling  should  be  carefully  chosen  and  should  call  in 
couples,  each  couple  being  assigned  the  persons  with  whom 


CHURCH  FINANCE 


105 


they  are  likely  to  have  the  most  influence.  Some  such 
visits  are  generally  necessary,  as  some  individuals  who 
are  really  willing  enough  to  give  take  it  as  a  matter  of 
course  that  they  shall  be  personally  solicited. 

In  some  cases  it  may  prove  best  to  vary  the  above  pro¬ 
cedure  by  having  an  “Every  Member  Canvass”  just  before 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  parish.  Where  this  is  done 
announcement  should  be  made  that  all  persons  will  be 
called  upon  on  a  given  Sunday  afternoon  by  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  church,  who  will  collect  the  signed  subscription 
cards,  and  report  the  results  at  the  meeting.  The  minister 
should  never  be  assigned  to  this  service,  which  is  out  of  his 
province,  though  the  service  on  the  following  Sunday  may 
well  be  devoted  in  part  to  an  account  of  the  purposes,  work, 
and  value  of  the  church,  with  a  view  to  increasing  appre¬ 
ciation  of  it  and  devotion  to  it,  but  direct  appeals  from 
the  pulpit  for  money  from  the  congregation  should  be 
avoided  save  in  cases  of  extreme  necessity. 

If,  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight,  when  the  returns  are  in, 
there  remains  a  small  deficit,  it  may  probably  be  disre¬ 
garded,  in  the  hope  that  economies  and  plate  collections 
may  wipe  it  out.  If  there  are  indications  of  a  large  deficit 
steps  should  be  taken  at  once  to  secure  more  or  larger  sub¬ 
scriptions,  for  another  canvass  toward  the  end  of  the  year 
to  make  up  a  large  deficit  will  greatly  injure  the  chances 
of  securing  subscriptions  at  the  next  annual  meeting.  If 
a  diligent  canvass  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  does  not 
develop  sufficient  resources  to  meet  the  budget,  a  reduc¬ 
tion  of  expenditure  becomes  necessary  as  a  matter  of 
business  ethics.  Otherwise  certain  trouble  is  ahead,  which 
will  grow  worse  the  longer  the  matter  is  deferred.  A  par¬ 
ish  meeting  called  to  consider  reducing  the  budget  will 
sometimes  obviate  the  necessity  of  a  reduction  by  drawing 
out  new  subscriptions,  for  some  people  will  only  give  to  a 
voluntary  organization  under  a  sense  of  necessity. 

Here  and  there  persons  will  be  found  to  object  to  the 
foregoing  method  on  the  ground  that  it  is  bad  taste  or  bad 
policy  to  make  any  public  announcement  of  the  financial 
conditions  of  a  church.  Those,  however,  who  contribute 
to  a  church  stand  to  it  in  the  relation  of  shareholders,  and 


106 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


are  entitled  to  know  how  their  enterprise  fares.  It  is, 
therefore,  desirable  not  only  that  the  trustees  should  have 
a  treasurer’s  report  at  their  regular  monthly  meetings,  but 
that  the  printed  statement  should  be  provided  for  at  the 
annual  parish  meeting.  Objection  is  sometimes  made  that 
if  a  surplus  is  shown  the  people  will  no  longer  exert  them¬ 
selves,  or,  if  there  be  a  deficit,  outsiders  will  see  how 
meager  are  the  resources  of  the  church.  Ordinarily  few 
churches  show  any  larger  surplus  than  the  trifling  balance 
which  prudent  management  may  carry  forward  to  the 
ensuing  year.  This  is  as  it  should  be,  for  a  considerable 
surplus  in  successive  years  commonly  indicates  that  the 
church  is  giving  less  than  its  full  strength  to  its  work. 
Such  a  continued  surplus  is  sometimes  turned  into  an 
endowment  fund,  but  it  is  better  policy  to  spend  the  full 
income  of  the  church  year  by  year,  and  to  develop  the 
endowment  fund  from  special  gifts  or  bequests.  Speaking 
generally,  a  church  ought  not  to  accumulate  surplus  in¬ 
come,  any  more  than  should  a  college,  unless  it  be  for  a 
brief  period  and  for  some  specific  object  which  will  enlarge 
or  solidify  its  work.  Success  in  both  types  of  institution 
is  measured  by  expeditures,  not  by  surplus  income,  for  the 
purpose  of  both  is  not  financial  profit  but  enlargement  of 
life. 

A  church,  however,  is  much  more  liable  to  show  a  deficit 
than  a  surplus,  and  sometimes  people  fear  the  result  of 
the  publication  of  such  information.  But  knowledge  of  the 
facts  very  seldom  really  hurts  a  church  if  its  business 
affairs  are  properly  administered,  and  it  must  not  be  for¬ 
gotten  that  the  church  is  a  semi-public  institution  in  which 
the  community  at  large  has  also  a  financial  stake  through 
the  remission  of  taxes,  a  contribution  which,  in  the  case  of 
some  city  churches,  amounts  to  a  large  sum.  Furthermore, 
the  number  and  size  of  subscriptions  to  the  church  will 
depend  in  considerable  measure  upon  how  fully  the  mem¬ 
bers  appreciate  the  work  which  the  church  is  doing  and 
realize  its  financial  condition  and  needs.  Where  a  parish 
is  in  healthy  condition  it  is  sound  policy  to  keep  its  mem¬ 
bers  well  informed  about  its  affairs,  since  they  will  give  in 
proportion  to  their  interest  and  pride  in  the  church,  and 


CHURCH  FINANCE 


107 


where  a  church  is  not  in  healthy  condition  its  supporters 
certainly  ought  to  be  informed  of  the  fact. 

Endowment  funds. 

Where  a  church  holds  a  general  endowment  fund,  or  a 
fund  given  to  support  some  specific  phase  of  its  work,  a 
statement  as  to  such  fund  should  always  be  included  in 
the  annual  published  report  of  the  treasurer.  This  state¬ 
ment  should  give  the  amount  of  both  the  principal  and  the 
income  of  the  fund;  it  should  list  the  securities  in  which 
the  fund  is  invested  and  should  name  the  bank  in  which 
any  cash  balance  is  deposited.  The  principal  should  be 
invested  only  in  securities  suitable  for  trust  funds,  and  no 
part  should  be  used  to  pay  any  debt  of  the  society,  unless 
the  fund  is  specifically  given  to  be  used  in  such  way,  or  be 
invested  in  any  mortgage  or  other  obligation  of  the  church 
or  of  any  members  thereof.  Carelessness  in  the  choice 
of  investments  has  in  many  cases  resulted  in  the  loss  or 
grave  diminution  of  church  funds,  often  seriously  ham¬ 
pering  the  work  of  the  church  through  loss  of  income,  and 
exposing  negligent  trustees  to  the  risk  of  legal  prosecution. 
Publicity  tends  to  prevent  such  carelessness.  In  small 
societies,  or  where  expert  advice  as  to  investments  is  not 
readily  obtainable,  it  is  wise  to  entrust  the  principal  to 
some  large  denominational  organization,  which  will  agree 
to  take  care  of  the  fund  and  to  turn  over  the  annual  income 
to  the  society  in  accordance  with  the  purpose  of  the  donors. 

Where  it  is  desirable  to  build  up  an  endowment  fund 
an  appeal  for  gifts  or  bequests  for  such  purposes  should 
be  made  at  least  once  a  year,  perhaps  in  the  minister’s  or 
treasurer’s  annual  report,  and  any  accumulated  surplus 
income  may,  under  exceptional  circumstances,  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  parish,  be  added  to  the  endowment  fund.  It 
is  well  to  remember,  however,  that  while  an  endowment 
fund  is  a  valuable  asset  in  some  cases,  and  may,  indeed,  be 
essential  to  the  life  of  an  historic  church  or  of  one  with 
a  peculiar  work  to  do  either  at  a  strategic  missionary  point 
or  where  large  benevolences  are  called  for,  it  is  neither 
necessary  nor  desirable  that  every  church  should  be  en¬ 
dowed.  It  is  often  better  that  a  church  should  disappear 


108 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


when  it  ceases  to  be  self-supporting,  and  the  members  of 
a  church  with  an  endowment  need  constantly  to  beware  of 
the  moral  and  spiritual  decay  which  is  certain  to  ensue  in 
any  organism  which  lives  without  exertion  upon  the  gifts 
of  the  dead. 

Insurance. 

The  trustees  should  not  fail  to  keep  all  the  destructible 
property  of  the  church  adequately  insured  in  a  reliable 
company.  Instances  have  occurred  in  which  a  church  has 
been  well-nigh  ruined  by  loss  of  its  property  by  fire  after 
the  insurance  policy  had  been  allowed  to  lapse.  The 
treasurer’s  report  should  include  a  statement  as  to  the 
amount  of  insurance  carried  on  the  property  and,  where 
the  premium  is  paid  in  a  lump  sum  covering  several  years, 
the  entry  in  the  treasurer’s  report  should  indicate  that 
fact.  Thus  if  the  premium  be  $150  paid  for  five  years’ 
insurance,  the  report  should  show  advance  payments  at 
$30  a  year  for  the  period  covered. 

Benevolences. 

Every  church  has  occasion  to  raise  money  during  the 
year  for  purposes  outside  the  ordinary  running  expenses 
of  the  parish, — for  the  missionary  organizations  of  the 
denomination,  for  “general  charities,”  or  for  some  par¬ 
ticular  benevolences  in  which  it  may  be  interested.  There 
are  three  ways  in  which  money  may  be  raised  for  such 
purposes:  by  having  the  trustees  set  aside  a  fixed  sum  for 
the  desired  object,  out  of  the  general  income  of  the  church ; 
by  taking  up  one  or  more  special  collections  on  dates  pre¬ 
viously  announced;  by  asking  people  to  subscribe  in 
advance,  payment  to  be  made  by  the  envelope  system. 

The  first  method  is  an  undesirable  one,  since  it  practi¬ 
cally  diverts  to  outside  purposes  money  presumably  sub¬ 
scribed  to  meet  the  running  expenses  of  the  church,  and 
also  it  fails  to  make  any  appeal  to  the  missionary  or  phil¬ 
anthropic  spirit  of  the  people.  The  second  method  is  an 
excellent  one  when  systematically  followed,  in  churches 
where  such  outside  interests  are  well  organized  and  sus¬ 
tained.  The  third  method  is  best  where  donations  are  made 


CHURCH  FINANCE 


109 


in  small  amounts,  and  where  the  envelope  system  is  in 
general  use. 

Every  church  should  adopt  either  the  second  or  the  third 
method,  for  it  is  a  well-recognized  fact  that,  next  to  the 
efficient  administration  of  its  own  affairs,  the  responsibility 
assumed  by  a  church  for  missionary  and  philanthropic 
purposes  is  perhaps  the  best  test  of  its  vitality.  It  is  often 
best  to  put  the  management  of  the  benevolences  of  the 
parish  into  the  hands  of  a  special  Committee  on  Benevo¬ 
lences,  with  its  own  treasurer  who  collects  and  disburses, 
at  the  direction  of  the  Committee,  the  money  raised  for 
these  purposes.  The  Committee  should  represent  all  the 
varied  interests  of  the  parish  and  should,  of  course,  work 
in  cooperation  with  the  trustees.  The  best  results  are 
secured  when  the  distribution  of  the  money  thus  raised  is 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Committee ;  for  the  Committee, 
knowing  all  the  contributions,  can  usually  apportion  them 
better  than  any  individual  contributor.  The  treasurer  of 
the  Committee  should  also  make  a  report,  duly  audited,  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  church. 

Churches  which  adopt  modern  business  methods,  with  a 
carefully  prepared  budget;  publicity  of  accounts;  a  well- 
planned  annual  parish  meeting ;  and  prompt  and  efficient 
management  in  the  treasurer’s  office,  not  infrequently 
find  that  their  income  is  considerably  increased  thereby. 
It  should  never  be  forgotten,  however,  that  even  the  best 
system  which  can  be  devised  is  not  automatic,  and  will 
work  only  when  there  is  intelligence  and  energy  behind 
it.  The  system  can  simplify  the  treasurer’s  task,  but  it 
will  produce  the  expected  results  only  when  it  is  admin¬ 
istered  by  a  man  who  really  cares  about  making  it  go. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  MINISTER’S  SALARY  AND  FEES 

The  minister’s  salary. 

The  minister’s  salary  should  be  regarded  as  the  primary 
charge  which  the  church  is  under  obligation  to  meet.  As 
stated  in  the  opening  chapter,  the  call  to  the  minister  and 
his  acceptance  constitute  a  contract  between  him  and  the 
church,  which  renders  the  latter  legally  liable  for  the 
salary  at  which  he  was  engaged.  Ordinarily  the  free  use 
of  the  parsonage  is  understood,  unless  special  arrangements 
provide  otherwise,  and  its  fair  rental  value  is  often  com¬ 
puted  as  a  part  of  the  salary.  Monthly  payment  of  the 
salary  is  usual,  and  is  preferable  to  quarterly  or  semi¬ 
annual  payments,  since  few  ministers  have  other  income  to 
draw  upon  and  must  meet  their  household  bills  monthly. 
For  the  same  reason  prompt  payment  of  the  salary  is  very 
important  to  the  minister,  who  is  liable  to  grave  incon¬ 
venience  if  his  salary  is  delayed  or  is  paid  at  uncertain 
intervals.  Indirectly  the  church  itself  suffers  from  the 
resultant  inability  of  the  minister  to  pay  his  bills  promptly, 
for  the  accumulation  of  debts  on  his  part  will  ultimately 
reflect  discredit  on  the  church.  Uncertainty  as  to  when  he 
will  receive  his  salary  has  also  a  very  unsettling  effect  upon 
him,  and  may  become  a  real  point  of  irritation,  about  which 
it  is  difficult  for  him  to  speak  frankly  but  which  neverthe¬ 
less  tends  to  alienate  him  from  his  parish.  To  let  the  min¬ 
ister  ’s  salary  run  unpaid  is,  in  effect,  to  require  him  to  loan 
the  church  money  without  interest  Instead  of  doing  this 
the  church  should,  if  necessary,  arrange  for  a  loan  from  the 
bank  with  which  to  pay  its  bills,  and  it  should  be  under¬ 
stood  from  the  outset  that  this  will  be  done  when  occasion 
arises. 


110 


THE  MINISTER’S  SALARY  AND  FEES  111 


The  relationship  between  the  minister  and  his  parish 
should  be  regarded  as  primarily  a  spiritual  bond  rather 
than  a  business  transaction,  but  this  result  is  most  surely 
attained  by  eliminating  causes  of  friction  or  misunder¬ 
standing  about  money  matters  and  reducing  communica¬ 
tions  on  the  subject  to  the  necessary  minimum.  To  this 
end  the  treasurer  should  be  punctilious  in  the  payment  of 
salary  on  the  exact  date  upon  which  it  is  due,  and  should 
arrange  to  deposit  the  monthly  check  to  the  minister’s 
credit  in  the  bank  in  which  he  keeps  his  account,  without 
requiring  him  to  sign  a  receipt. 

The  theory  of  the  minister’s  “living.” 

The  church  is  liable  to  forget  the  principle  involved  in 
the  matter  of  the  minister’s  salary.  He  is  not  a  “hired 
man,”  who  is  paid  to  do  a  certain  work,  but  a  professional 
man,  in  a  sacred  vocation,  who  is  assured  a  living  in  order 
that  he  may  render  a  certain  service  to  the  community. 
Indeed  the  old  English  use  of  the  word  “living”  for  the 
income  of  an  ecclesiastical  benefice  indicates  precisely  the 
theory  upon  which  the  minister  is  paid.  He  is  not  working 
for  profit,  nor  for  the  money  there  is  in  the  position,  but 
is  given  a  maintenance  because  only  so  can  he  be  freed 
from  other  labor  to  give  his  full  time  and  strength  to  the 
work  of  the  church.  In  almost  every  branch  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  it  has  been  regarded  as  undesirable  that  the 
minister  of  religion  should  be  involved  in  money-making 
occupations  which  almost  inevitably  tend  to  distract  him 
from  his  religious  duties.  No  man  can  well  serve  two  mas¬ 
ters — he  cannot  do  his  best  work  for  God  and  also  con¬ 
stantly  be  on  the  lookout  to  make  money.  Jesus,  during  his 
ministry,  was  supported  by  his  followers,  “who  ministered 
unto  [him]  of  their  substance.”1  St.  Paul  did,  indeed, 
maintain  himself  by  tent-making,  but  he  was  not  a  married 
man  and  the  circumstances  were  quite  exceptional,  and, 
furthermore,  he  clearly  asserted  the  right  of  him  who  pro¬ 
claimed  the  gospel  to  live  by  the  gospel.2  The  Society  of 

1  Luke  viii,  3. 

2 1  Cor.  ix,  7-14. 


112 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


Friends  offers  the  most  conspicuous  example  of  habitual 
religious  work  on  the  part  of  persons  whose  living  is  not 
in  chief  part  provided  by  the  Society,  and  even  here  the 
exceptions  are  sometimes  more  apparent  than  real.  George 
Fox  in  his  early  ministry  seems  always  to  have  had  enough 
money  to  live  upon,  from  some  source  not  now  ascertain¬ 
able  ;  later  he  was  largely  maintained  by  his  followers,  and 
eventually  he  married  a  woman  of  property.  John  AVool- 
man  and  other  Friends  traveling  “  under  a  concern,  ”  paid 
their  way  in  part  only,  for  the  rest  being  entertained  by 
members  of  the  meetings  which  they  visited. 

The  Roman  practice. 

The  Roman  Church  has  for  many  centuries  required  the 
‘ 1  religious,  ’  ’  that  is  members  of  monastic  orders,  to  take  a 
vow  of  poverty,  but  this  does  not  mean  that  monk  and  nun 
are  destitute,  not  knowing  whence  their  food  and  clothing 
are  to  come.  It  means  that  they  pledge  themselves  not  to 
go  into  remunerative  occupations,  not  to  accumulate  pri¬ 
vate  property,  but  to  give  what  they  have  to  the  church 
and  to  depend  upon  the  church  for  support.  In  practice 
men  and  women  are  not  ordinarily  received  into  monas¬ 
teries  or  convents,  nor  are  candidates  for  the  priesthood 
ordained,  unless  their  support  is  guaranteed  by  themselves 
or  others.  The  secular  priest  in  the  Roman  Church  does 
not  take  the  vow  of  poverty,  but  he  may  not  undertake 
any  kind  of  trade,  nor  the  administration  of  temporal 
affairs  without  the  permission  of  his  bishop,  nor  may  he 
accept  the  care  of  the  money  of  other  people,  especially  of 
the  poor.  The  parish  to  which  he  is  assigned  must  provide 
him  with  quarters  in  a  priest’s  house  and  pay  him  a  fixed 
minimum  salary,  which  is  estimated  as  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  live  in  simple  comfort  and  good  health.  The  parish 
must  maintain  him  so  long  as  he  is  competent  to  do  the 
work.  In  addition  he  is  entitled  to  fees  for  masses,  bap¬ 
tisms,  marriages,  and  other  professional  services.  The 
salaries  and  fees  are  fixed  at  a  uniform  rate  for  all  priests 
doing  work  of  the  same  grade,  the  differences  in  compensa¬ 
tion  arising  generally  from  the  greater  number  of  fees  to 
be  obtained  in  large  and  popular  parishes,  often  running 


THE  MINISTER’S  SALARY  AND  FEES  113 


up  to  handsome  figures.  If  he  be  removed  for  disciplinary- 
reasons,  or  physical  disability,  or  old  age,  the  priest’s  sup¬ 
port  is  chargeable  on  the  diocese  in  which  he  was  ordained, 
and  he  will  be  cared  for  in  a  monastery  or  otherwise. 
Every  priest  knows  that  so  long  as  he  remains  in  com¬ 
munion  with  his  church  he  need  take  no  thought  for  food, 
clothing,  or  shelter.  He  is  relieved  from  these  anxieties 
that  he  may  devote  himself  wholly  to  his  work,  unencum¬ 
bered  by  any  worldly  ties.  In  return  for  this  protec¬ 
tion  the  church  requires  his  unconditional  obedience,  so 
that  he  must  go  where  he  is  sent  and  do  what  he  is  told  by 
his  ecclesiastical  superior. 

The  Protestant  practice. 

The  Protestant  minister  is,  in  certain  respects,  at  a  grave 
disadvantage  in  comparison  with  the  Catholic  priest.  He 
has  in  most  ways,  indeed,  a  far  greater  freedom,  but  on 
the  other  hand  far  less  security.  Except  in  unusual  cases 
he  is  not  under  obligation  to  go  to  any  particular  field  at 
the  command  of  a  superior,  but  is  free  to  accept  or  refuse 
any  call  which  he  may  receive.  On  the  other  hand,  he  often 
has  the  burden  of  family  responsibilities,  and  his  position 
is  far  more  precarious,  because  he  seldom  has  any  guar¬ 
antee  of  a  living  wage,  or  of  protection  in  time  of  disability 
or  when  old  age  approaches.  In  this  country  the  Prot¬ 
estant  Episcopal  Church,  with  its  admirable  pension  sys¬ 
tem,  comes  nearest  to  making  adequate  provision  for  its 
ministers.  The  thoroughly  successful  minister  in  a  strong 
parish  gets  a  good  salary,  enough  to  live  upon  and  to  lay 
aside  something  against  illness  and  old  age.  But  although 
Protestant  churches  almost  universally,  and  by  a  sound 
instinct,  prefer  a  married  man,  many  small  churches  pay 
what  is  really  adequate  only  for  the  maintenance  of  a  single 
man.  The  married  minister,  with,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  chil¬ 
dren  to  bring  up,  has  a  very  difficult  time  to  make  both 
ends  meet  on  a  salary  which  often  comes  to  no  more  than 
the  stipend  and  perquisites  of  his  celibate  neighbor,  the 
Catholic  priest.  Furthermore,  since  in  a  time  of  rising 
prices  wages  always  rise  more  slowly  than  prices,  and 
salaries  more  slowly  than  wages,  most  ministers  today  are 


114 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


not  nearly  so  well  off  as  they  were  before  the  Great  War. 
There  has  been  much  discussion  in  recent  years  about  the 
causes  for  the  falling  off  in  number  and  quality  of  recruits 
for  the  ministry.  The  causes  are  numerous  and  very 
complex,  but  one  of  the  major  factors  is  thought  to  be  the 
unsatisfactory  economic  status  of  the  Protestant  ministry. 
It  is  not  that  anyone  expects  the  ministry  to  offer  financial 
prizes  such  as  are  obtainable  by  the  ablest  men  in  the  pro¬ 
fessions  of  law  or  medicine.  No  man  in  his  senses,  much 
less  one  with  high  ideals,  goes  into  the  ministry  simply  for 
the  pay.  He  chooses  it,  in  spite  of  the  low  salaries,  because 
it  offers  him  a  large  opportunity  for  the  service  of  God  and 
man.  He  cannot  properly  perform  that  service,  however, 
if  he  receives  less  than  a  decent  livelihood.  For  their  own 
sakes  the  churches  need  to  reconsider  the  whole  theory  of 
ministerial  salaries.  Salaries  ought  to  be  regarded  not  as 
a  pecuniary  equivalent  for  services  rendered,  but  as  a 
living — a  freeing  of  the  minister  from  the  necessity  of 
worldly  pursuits  in  order  that  he  may  give  his  whole  time 
and  thought  to  his  charge.  We  hear  much  of  the  way  in 
which  riches  distract  men’s  minds  from  spiritual  things, 
and  the  Christian  Church  has  been  quite  right  in  its  feeling 
that  the  minister  must  not  be  a  money-maker,  lest  he  be 
absorbed  in  temporal  affairs.  But  the  pressure  of  poverty 
and  of  anxiety  for  the  morrow  may  just  as  much  force  a 
minister  to  give  undue  attention  to  the  cares  of  this  world, 
especially  if  he  have  wife  and  child.  If  he  is  to  pay  his 
rent  and  his  grocer’s  bill  and  clothe  and  educate  his  chil¬ 
dren  he  is  often  obliged  to  do  some  close  thinking  about 
the  situation.  The  alternatives  before  the  Protestant 
churches  are  either  to  go  back  to  a  celibate  ministry  or 
to  pay  salaries  which  shall  free  the  ministers  from  unneces¬ 
sary  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  their  families. 

President  Charles  W.  Eliot,  dealing  with  the  kindred 
profession  of  teaching,  has  stated  the  situation  in  words 
which  apply  equally  well  to  the  ministry.  ‘  ‘  Professors,  ’  ’  he 
said,  “and  other  teachers  .  .  .  need  to  be  relatively  free 
from  pecuniary  cares  so  that  their  minds  may  run  on  their 
work.  To  this  end  they  should  have  fixed  salaries,  and 
retiring  allowances,  so  that  they  may  adjust  their  scale  of 


THE  MINISTER’S  SALARY  AND  FEES  115 


living  to  their  earnings,  and  not  have  to  think  about  mak¬ 
ing  money,  or  feel  anxiety  about  disability  or  old  age. 
This  detachment  from  ordinary  pecuniary  or  livelihood 
anxieties  is  an  important  element  in  their  mental  freedom, 
and  for  the  right  kind  of  person  a  strong  inducement  to 
the  profession.  The  teacher  ought  always  to  be  a  person 
disposed  to  idealism  and  altruism;  and  he  should  have 
abandoned  all  thought  of  measuring  his  success  by  the  size 
of  his  income.”  And  again,  speaking  of  the  college  presi¬ 
dent:  “His  inducements  to  laborious  and  responsible 
service  are,  however,  different  from  those  which  are  effec¬ 
tive  with  other  sorts  of  leaders.  A  high  salary,  or  the 
prospect  of  luxury  for  himself  and  his  family,  will  not 
tempt  him.  .  .  .  He  cannot  be  induced  to  do  his  best  work 
by  offering  him  any  money  prize,  and  he  will  manifest 
no  desire  whatever  for  arbitrary  power  over  masses  of 
human  beings,  or  for  what  is  ordinarily  called  fame 
or  glory.  The  effective  inducement  will  be  the  prospect 
of  eminent  usefulness,  public  consideration,  the  provision 
of  all  real  facilities  for  his  work,  enough  relief  from 
pecuniary  cares  to  leave  his  mind  free  for  invention  and 
forelooking,  long  tenure,  and  income  enough  for  healthy 
recreations.  ’  ’ 3 

What  is  an  adequate  salary t 

Owing  to  the  wide  variations  m  local  conditions,  it  is 
impossible  to  lay  down  anything  more  than  a  general  prin¬ 
ciple  as  to  what  constitutes  an  adequate  ministerial  salary. 
That  principle  may  be  stated  as  follows:  An  adequate  sal¬ 
ary  for  a  minister  in  any  given  parish  is  the  amount  which 
will  enable  him ,  with  a  wife  and  at  least  two  dependents , 
to  live  with  reasonable  economy  in  a  respectable  house,  in 
sufficient  comfort  to  maintain  the  health  of  the  family ;  to 
take  sufficient  recreation ;  to  keep  up  his  professional 
standards  by  the  purchase  of  books  and  magazines,  and  by 
attending  conf erences ;  and  to  make  due  provision  for 
illness  and  old  age.  In  a  word  the  minister,  if  his  effec¬ 
tiveness  is  not  to  be  handicapped,  should  have  not  a  bare 

3  C.  W.  Eliot,  “Academic  Freedom, ”  in  Northrup’s  “Representa¬ 
tive  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Orations.  ” 


116 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


subsistence  but  a  fair  living  salary.  What  constitutes  a 
fair  maintenance  varies  greatly  in  different  sections  of  the 
country  and  in  different  types  of  community.  It  is  not 
sufficient  to  say  that  a  given  minister  probably  receives  as 
much  money  as  the  average  of  his  parishioners,  because  in 
most  cases  more  is  expected  of  him  than  of  the  average 
layman  in  his  parish.  He  has  had  to  invest  more  in  educa¬ 
tion  than  most  laymen,  and  has  constant  calls  upon  his 
purse  which  they  have  not.  In  a  farming  district  the  min¬ 
ister  who  is  paid  $1,000  a  year  may  have  a  larger  cash 
income  than  any  of  his  parishioners,  but  most  of  them  get 
a  large  part  of  their  living  from  their  farms,  and  live  on 
a  scale  which  really  represents  an  income  of  $1,200  to 
$1,800  a  year.  In  towns  and  cities  the  minister’s  expenses 
increase  proportionately  with  the  size  of  the  community, 
and  ordinarily  are  greater  than  those  of  most  of  his  parish¬ 
ioners  whose  income  is  the  same  as  his.  The  kindred,  and 
certainly  not  overpaid  profession  of  teaching  offers  a 
standard  of  comparison.  In  towns  and  rural  districts  the 
minister’s  salary  should  equal  that  of  the  superintendent 
of  schools,  or  of  the  high-school  principal.  In  a  university 
town  the  young  minister  should  begin  with  a  salary  at 
least  equal  to  that  of  an  assistant  professor  and  after  some 
years  of  service  he  should  receive  a  salary  equal  to  that  of 
a  full  professor.  In  large  and  important  city  churches  it 
may  be  necessary  to  pay  the  minister  a  salary  approxi¬ 
mating  that  of  a  college  or  university  president  to  enable 
him  to  meet  the  demands  which  will  legitimately  be  made 
upon  him.  It  should  be  remembered  that  poverty  is  a 
relative  matter,  and  that  the  man  who  feels  poor  is  not 
necessarily  the  one  with  the  smallest  income,  but  he  whose 
income  is  inadequate  to  meet  the  obligations  imposed  upon 
him  by  his  work  and  position. 

The  minister’s  salary  and  the  church  budget. 

The  proportion  which  the  minister’s  salary  should  bear 
to  the  total  annual  budget  of  the  church  will  necessarily 
show  great  variation  in  churches  of  different  types.  When 
the  total  expenditure  is  $2,000  or  less,  the  minister’s  salary 
should  represent  from  75  per  cent  to  90  per  cent  of  the 


THE  MINISTER’S  SALARY  AND  FEES  117 


total.  That  percentage  will  decrease  with  the  rise  in  the 
total  expenditures,  so  that  in  churches  which  spend  $15,000 
to  $20,000  the  minister  ’s  salary  will  average  perhaps  40 
per  cent  to  45  per  cent  of  the  total.  In  the  relatively  few 
churches  with  an  income  exceeding  $20,000  the  percentage 
assigned  to  salaries  is  likely  to  rise  again,  because  such 
churches  are  likely  to  employ  more  than  one  minister, 
besides  other  professional  workers.  The  following  table 
may  roughly  indicate  what  would  seem  to  be  a  fair  pro¬ 
portion  of  the  total  expenditures  to  be  assigned  to  the 
salary  of  the  minister: 


Total  expenditures 


Minister’s  salary 


Under  $1,500  .  85%-90% 

$1,600  to  $2,000  .  75%-85% 

$2,100  to  $2,500  .  70%-75% 

$2,600  to  $3,500  .  65%-70% 

$3,600  to  $5,000  .  60%-65% 

$5,100  to  $8,000  .  55%-60% 

$8,100  to  $12,000  .  50%-55% 

$12,000  to  $15,000  .  45%-50% 

$15,000  to  $20,000  .  40%-45% 


In  large  churches  with  more  than  one  minister  the  senior 
pastor’s  salary  should  represent  the  percentage  indicated 
above.  His  associate  should  be  paid  a  salary  not  less  than 
that  represented  by  the  salary  percentage  of  a  budget 
about  one-half  as  large. 

Another  method  of  arriving  at  a  just  estimate  of  what 
a  given  church  should  pay  its  minister  is  by  a  comparison 
of  the  general  living  standards  of  the  community  with  the 
annual  outlay  required  of  a  man  living  in  the  manner 
which  the  church  expects  of  its  minister.  Such  a  scale  as 
is  suggested  below  can  be  only  approximate,  since  condi¬ 
tions  vary  considerably  even  in  communities  of  similar 
type  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  but  a  comparison 
of  this  schedule  with  that  showing  the  due  percentage  of 
the  total  church  expenditures  which  should  be  assigned  to 
the  minister’s  salary,  wTill  enable  any  church  to  reach  a 
just  conclusion  as  to  what  it  should  pay. 


118 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


Minimum 

With 

parsonage 

In  rural  districts  and  in  small  towns 


under  2,000  .  $1,200 

Towns,  2,000-15,000  . $2,500 

Small  cities,  15,000-50,000  . $3,000 

Medium  cities,  50,000-200,000  ....  $3,600 

Large  cities  above  200,000  .  $4,500-$6,600 

In  missionary,  secondary  or  sub¬ 


urban  churches  in  such  cities...  $4,000-$5,000 


Salaries 

Without 

parsonage 

$1,500 

$3,000 

$3,500 

$4,500 

$5,000-$8,000 

$4,500-$6,000 


These  figures  are  those  suggested  for  minimum  salaries, 
at  the  present  cost  of  living  (1923).  The  estimate  is  liable 
to  fluctuations  with  the  probable  rise  or  possible  fall  in  the 
cost  of  commodities.  A  few  large  city  churches  will  pay 
more  than  the  maximum  suggested, — $10,000  or  $12,000, 
or  even  $15,000  being  no  more  than  is  necessary  in  a  large 
church  in  a  metropolitan  community. 

A  church  which  underpays  its  minister  sometimes  seeks 
to  salve  its  conscience  by  making  him  “  donations/ ’  In  old 
days,  when  cash  was  scarce,  it  was  appropriate  for  the 
country  minister  to  take  part  of  his  salary  in  wood,  pota¬ 
toes,  pork  or  apples.  It  is  still  possible  for  generous  and 
thoughtful  parishioners  to  add  to  the  comfort  and  pleasure 
of  the  minister  and  his  wife  by  gifts  of  fruit,  vegetables, 
flowers  or  books,  by  lending  them  a  motor  car  occasionally, 
or  by  showing  consideration  of  them  in  other  ways.  Such 
fruits  of  genuine  personal  interest  and  friendship  may 
amount  to  a  considerable  assistance  to  a  family  living  upon 
a  small  salary,  and  may  at  the  same  time  feed  the  spirit  as 
well.  But  such  friendly  gifts  should  be  distinguished  from 
the  occasional  “ donations,’ ’  whether  of  cash  or  of  more  or 
less  useless  articles,  by  which  a  church  seeks  to  escape  from 
paying  its  minister  a  suitable  salary.  It  contributes  to  the 
self-respect  of  neither  the  minister  nor  the  church  to  boost 
him  over  a  hard  place  which  he  could  have  surmounted 
alone  if  he  had  had  a  fair  living.  A  church  which  under¬ 
pays  its  minister  is  sure  to  get  inferior  service,  because,  no 
matter  how  devoted  a  man  may  be,  there  will  be  a  certain 
standard  of  living  below  which  he  cannot  maintain  his  full 


THE  MINISTER’S  SALARY  AND  FEES  119 


efficiency.  On  the  other  hand,  the  church  which  pays  an 
adequate  salary,  so  that  the  minister  can  maintain  himself 
and  his  family  in  good  condition  and  without  avoidable 
anxiety  for  the  future,  is  far  more  likely  to  secure  the  type 
of  man  it  desires,  and  to  retain  him  long  in  its  service. 

Professional  fees. 

A  good  many  laymen  suppose  that  the  minister  makes 
considerable  sums  each  year,  in  addition  to  his  salary, 
from  professional  fees  for  christenings,  weddings,  and 
funerals,  and  they  like  to  believe  that  any  inadequacy  of 
his  salary  is  thus  made  good.  It  is  quite  true  that  some 
ministers  do  receive  from  these  sources  a  considerable  addi¬ 
tion  to  their  income.  This  is  especially  the  case  among 
priests  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  which  payment 
for  such  services  is  a  matter  of  course  and  on  a  fixed  scale ; 
and  in  some  Protestant  bodies,  particularly  with  well- 
known  men  in  populous  communities.  In  most  Protestant 
communions,  however,  such  fees  come  only  as  voluntary 
offerings,  and  not  as  fixed  charges.  This  has  been  the 
Protestant  method  of  meeting  the  abuse  which  has  arisen 
in  the  Christian  Church  from  time  to  time  when  mercenary 
clergy  have  sought  to  extort  money  from  their  parishioners 
for  special  services.  One  of  the  letters  of  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great,  written  about  600,  is  a  vigorous  rebuke  to  a 
bishop  who  had  extorted  money  from  a  devout  Christian 
woman  on  the  occasion  of  her  husband’s  funeral,  and  an 
old  English  provincial  church  constitution  lays  down  the 
following  rule:  “We  do  firmly  enjoin  that  neither  burial 
nor  baptism  nor  any  sacrament  of  the  church  shall  be 
denied  to  anyone  upon  account  of  any  sum  of  money,  nor 
shall  matrimony  be  hindered  therefor.  ’  ’  4  The  Roman 
Church  meets  this  abuse  by  fixing  a  scale  of  charges ;  most 
Protestant  churches  by  an  established  custom  that  fees  on 
such  occasions  shall  be  voluntary  offerings.  In  the  latter, 
as  a  matter  of  practice,  no  fee  is  offered  or  expected 
in  a  case  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  funerals  or  christen¬ 
ings,  and  some  ministers  habitually  refuse  to  accept  them 
when  offered  for  these  services,  though  willing  to  accept 

‘Phillimore:  “Eccles.  Law”  (2d  ed.),  p.  632. 


120 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


them  for  weddings,  for  which  the  minister,  as  an  officer  of 
the  law,  is  in  fact  entitled  to  make  a  small  charge.  This 
distinction  has  no  logical  foundation,  though  the  reason 
commonly  given  is  that  the  minister  should  not  take  money 
from  people  in  time  of  sorrow,  especially  as  the  death  in  a 
family  usually  involves  other  heavy  expenses.  This  may 
often  be  an  adequate  reason  for  refusing  a  funeral  fee, 
though  a  young  married  couple,  just  starting  out  in  life, 
may  be  as  little  able  to  afford  a  fee. 

The  right  attitude  of  the  minister  towards  this  question 
of  fees  is  properly  based  on  other  grounds.  When  persons 
belonging  to  his  own  parish  desire  his  services  to  marry 
them,  to  christen  their  children,  or  to  bury  one  of  their 
family,  he  should  regard  such  offices  as  a  normal  part  of 
his  parish  work  and  perform  them  regardless  of  any  ques¬ 
tion  of  a  fee.  If  they  choose  afterwards  to  send  him  a 
present,  either  money  or  some  other  gift,  as  a  natural 
expression  of  their  appreciation,. he  need  have  no  hesitation 
about  accepting  it,  save  in  cases  in  which  .he  knows  that 
they  cannot  really  afford  the  fee  offered.  He  must  then  use 
his  best  discretion  as  to  how  to  return  the  fee  without 
hurting  the  donor’s  feelings — perhaps  by  asking  the  bride 
to  accept  it  as  his  wedding  present. 

In  the  case  of  persons  not  attached  to  his  parish  he 
should  also  conduct  the  desired  office,  and  do  so  without 
the  promise  of  a  fee.  Such  persons  have,  however,  no  espe¬ 
cial  claim  upon  him  and  should  remember  that  the  service 
which  they  are  asking  may  take  considerable  time  and  prep¬ 
aration.  A  funeral  service  may  take  half  his  day,  espe¬ 
cially  if  the  burial  be  in  some  distant  cemetery.  The 
people  who  have  called  him  to  their  aid  would  not  expect  a 
lawyer  or  a  doctor,  even  if  a  personal  friend,  to  render  a 
definitely  professional  service  without  suitable  compensa¬ 
tion,  unless  the  case  were  one  for  charity.  No  more  should 
persons  able  to  pay  a  reasonable  fee  to  a  minister,  other 
than  their  own  pastor,  who  serves  them  in  a  professional 
capacity,  neglect  to  do  so,  or  send  him  a  trifling  sum,  per¬ 
haps  the  same  as  the  sexton’s  tip.  Yet  this  often  occurs, 
generally  as  the  result  of  sheer  ignorance  as  to  the  right 
thing  to  do.  Certainly  there  is  no  reason,  in  the  case  of 


THE  MINISTER’S  SALARY  AND  FEES  121 


such  funerals  outside  of  his  own  parish,  why  the  minister 
should  not  accept  a  fee  for  his  services.  He  should  never, 
however,  accept  a  fee  from  a  brother  minister,  or  a  min¬ 
ister’s  family,  for  a  christening,  wedding,  or  funeral.  Such 
offices  are  always  labors  of  love,  though  he  may  accept  his 
expenses  if  they  amount  to  more  than  a  trifling  sum.5 

Some  enterprising  undertakers  have  a  way  of  tucking 
into  their  bills  a  charge  for  the  minister’s  services.  Doubt¬ 
less  some  of  them  do  this  in  their  desire  to  make  sure  that 
the  minister  is  not  overlooked,  though  instances  are  not 
unknown  in  which  the  undertaker,  after  the  bill  has  been 
paid,  has  himself  forgotten  to  send  on  to  the  minister  the 
fee  which  he  had  collected.  In  any  case  the  practice  is  an 
undesirable  one,  for  it  gives  the  impression  that  the  min¬ 
ister  has  either  permitted  or  requested  a  charge  to  be  made. 
The  first  time  that  the  minister  discovers  that  any  given 
undertaker  has  made  such  a  charge  he  should  request  him 
not  to  do  so  again,  and  should  return  the  fee  to  the  person 
who  has  paid  it,  though  he  may  properly  accept  it  if  it  is 
again  voluntarily  offered  as  an  honorarium.  If  the  under¬ 
taker  repeats  the  practice,  or  is  discovered  to  have  kept  for 
himself  the  fee  charged  upon  the  bill,  the  minister  should, 
whenever  thereafter  he  has  occasion  to  conduct  funerals 
at  which  the  offending  undertaker  is  employed,  notify  the 
heirs  of  the  deceased  not  to  pay  any  such  charge.  The 
simplest  way  to  establish  a  right  understanding  in  this 
matter  is  for  the  minister,  soon  after  his  settlement  and  at 
intervals  thereafter,  to  print  in  the  church  calendar  a  clear, 
simple  statement  as  to  the  recognized  practice  in  his 
denomination  in  this  matter  of  fees  for  special  services.6 

The  amount  which  a  minister  may  receive  from  fees 
varies  greatly  with  the  custom  of  the  locality  and  the 
nature  of  his  parish.  Wedding  fees  may  range  from  50 
cents  to  $100 ;  probably  $5  or  $10  is  the  usual  amount.  A 
few  ministers,  settled  in  an  exceptionally  favorable  loca¬ 
tion,  or  widely  known  and  sought  after,  may  receive  as 
much  as  $1,000  a  year  from  such  sources.  For  most  minis¬ 
ters  the  receipts  from  such  sources  are  so  small  and  irregu- 
6  See  also  pp.  168-169. 
a  See  p.  98. 


122 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


lar  as  to  be  a  quite  undependable  source  of  income.  It  is 
the  men  in  large  and  conspicuous  parishes  who  receive  the 
handsomest  fees,  while  the  men  in  small  churches,  who 
most  need  such  augmentation  of  their  salaries,  receive  few 
fees  and  small  ones.  In  any  case  it  is  a  grave  injustice  to 
the  minister  for  the  parish  to  assume  that  such  receipts 
can  be  counted  upon  to  supplement  an  insufficient  salary. 
Even  where  the  professional  fees  are  considerable  that  fact 
does  not  justify  the  church  in  paying  less  than  a  fair 
salary. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  ORGANIST  AND  CHOIR 

The  function  of  music  in  the  church  service . 

An  understanding  of  the  function  of  music  in  the  order 
of  worship  is  essential  to  any  discussion  of  the  position  of 
the  choir  and  organist  in  the  church.  Music  is  a  marked 
form  of  emotional  expression,  natural  and  appropriate  for 
a  service  of  worship  when  rightly  chosen  and  sincerely 
rendered.  In  churches  with  a  highly  developed  liturgy, 
where  the  appeal  is  more  emotional  than  intellectual,  music 
holds  an  important  place,  for  music  stimulates  the  feelings 
much  more  quickly  than  words.  Thus  the  Divine  Liturgy 
of  the  Eastern  Church  is  almost  entirely  sung  or  intoned, 
as  is  High  Mass  in  the  Roman  Church.  But  the  effect  of 
music  as  an  aid  to  worship  depends  entirely  upon  its  char¬ 
acter.  If  it  be  frivolous  or  flamboyant  it  will  not  stimulate 
religious  emotion  but  recall  secular  associations.  Any 
music  which  by  its  character  or  its  mode  of  rendition  sug¬ 
gests  the  concert  room  may  be  more  or  less  successful  as 
a  way  of  entertaining  the  congregation,  but  wTill  fail  as  an 
instrument  for  promoting  the  worship  of  God,  the  only 
legitimate  reason  for  introducing  it  into  the  church  at  all. 

Many  music  committees  apparently  fail  to  grasp  this 
fundamental  conception  of  the  place  of  music  in  the  church, 
and  select  the  choir  as  they  would  pick  singers  for  a  con¬ 
cert.  But  the  business  of  the  organist  and  choir  is  not  to 
please  or  entertain  the  congregation  in  the  intervals 
between  responsive  psalm  and  prayer  and  sermon.  It  is 
as  much  out  of  place  for  the  choir  to  address  what  it  sings 
to  the  congregation  as  the  minister  to  address  his  prayer 
to  them  instead  of  to  God.  The  primary  function  of  the 
choir  is  to  lead  the  congregation  in  singing  those  parts  of 

123 


124 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


the  service  in  which  the  congregation  can  and  should  join, 
namely  in  the  hymns,  and  in  the  chants  and  versicles  if  the 
service  contain  these  elements.  The  secondary  function  of 
the  choir  is  to  heighten  the  religious  appeal  of  the  service 
by  the  use  of  appropriate  music,  such  as  anthems,  too 
difficult  for  the  congregation  to  sing.  The  reason  why 
the  music  of  the  sixteenth  century  church  of  Western 
Europe,  or  of  the  modern  Russian  Church,  is  so  appealing 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  a  pure  expression  of  religious 
emotion.  The  reason  for  the  failure  of  so  much  of  the 
music  heard  in  Protestant  churches  is  that  such  emotional 
appeal  as  it  has  is  often  of  a  secular  rather  than  a  sacred 
character,  and  because  it  is  rendered  as  a  concert  to  please 
the  hearers  instead  of  as  an  act  of  devotion.  If  the  true 
function  of  music  in  the  church  service  be  thoroughly 
understood  the  music  committee  will  be  guided  accordingly 
in  its  selection  of  organist  and  choir,  and  in  its  instructions 
to  them. 

The  music  committee. 

The  music  committee,  which  should  be  elected  by  the 
parish  at  its  annual  meeting,  is  the  responsible  agent  of  the 
church  in  the  engagement  and  control  of  the  organist  and 
choir.  Some  authorities  advise  that  the  minister  should 
be  given  entire  control  of  the  music  of  the  church,  with 
authority  over  the  choir.  It  is,  indeed,  essential  that  the 
minister  should  have  direction  of  the  conduct  of  the  entire 
service  of  worship,  but  it  is  much  better  that  he  should 
have  no  responsibility  for  the  selection  or  terms  of  employ¬ 
ment  of  organist  or  singers.  In  many  churches  this  is 
beyond  his  authority,  since  the  employment  and  compensa¬ 
tion  of  all  persons  paid  by  the  church  is  legally  in  the 
hands  of  the  parish  alone,  or  of  the  trustees  acting  as  their 
agents.  Furthermore,  the  minister  not  infrequently  is 
musically  ignorant,  and  is  not  competent  to  select  or 
instruct  the  organist  or  choir.  The  music  committee 
should,  therefore,  be  the  intermediary  between  the  church 
and  the  organist  and  choir,  with  authority  to  engage  them 
upon  terms  either  approved  in  advance  or  subject  to  con¬ 
firmation  by  the  trustees,  and  to  dismiss  them  in  case  of 


THE  ORGANIST  AND  CHOIR 


125 


necessity.  The  music  committee  should  lay  down  the 
general  principles  to  which  the  music  of  the  church  should 
conform,  and  should  be  the  channel  through  which  alone 
all  instructions  to  the  organist,  or  criticisms  of  the  music 
should  pass.  If  members  of  the  congregation  do  not  like 
the  soprano’s  voice,  or  the  tenor’s  red  necktie,  or  the  modi¬ 
fied  ragtime  which  the  organist  played  as  a  prelude  to  the 
service,  they  should  not  take  their  complaints  to  the  min¬ 
ister  and  ask  him  to  discipline  the  offending  party,  but 
should  speak  or  write  to  the  music  committee. 

The  music  committee  should  have  its  own  budget,  and 
should  be  empowered  to  spend  at  discretion  the  appropria¬ 
tion  for  the  year.  It  should  keep  a  record  of  its  actions, 
and  copies  of  any  contracts,  directions  or  correspondence 
passing  between  the  committee  and  the  organist  and  choir. 
It  is  well  to  have  the  committee  made  up  of  from  three  to 
five  persons,  representing  in  some  measure  what  are  likely 
to  be  the  rather  varying  tastes  of  the  congregation.  Mem¬ 
bers  of  the  committee  do  not  need  to  be  professional  musi¬ 
cians,  but  they  should  at  least  be  educated  musically,  and 
persons  of  good  taste,  having  an  intelligent  understanding 
of  how  the  music  of  the  church  can  best  be  made  to  promote 
the  spirit  of  worship.  They  should  not  be  chosen  merely 
because  of  social  prominence,  or  with  the  hope  that  they 
will  help  to  pay  the  choir.  The  minister  should  not  be  a 
member  of  the  committee,  but  he  may  appropriately  be 
invited  to  sit  with  it  from  time  to  time,  especially  when  the 
budget  for  the  year  is  made  up,  or  when  any  change  in  the 
personnel  of  organist  and  choir  is  contemplated.  He  should 
be  free  at  any  time  to  communicate  his  wishes  to  the  com¬ 
mittee,  and,  though  he  has  no  authority  either  for  the 
engagement  or  the  discharge  of  the  organist  or  any  of  the 
choir,  and  may  not  demand  of  them  more  service  than 
their  contract  calls  for,  he  has  the  right  to  ask  the  com¬ 
mittee  that  the  organist  and  choir  be  required  to  carry  out 
his  wishes  in  regard  to  the  conduct  of  worship. 

The  organist. 

The  organist  should  be  given  entire  control  of  the  instru¬ 
ment  which  he  plays,  and  no  other  person  should  be 


126 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


allowed  to  use  it  without  his  permission.  A  good  modern 
organ  is  a  delicate  and  intricate  affair  easily  put  out  of 
commission  by  careless  or  unskilled  hands,  and  it  is  unfair 
to  subject  the  organist  to  such  risks  of  damage  to  the 
instrument  for  which  he  is  responsible.  If  the  services 
of  another  player  are  desired  for  some  special  occasion 
the  consent  of  the  organist  should  always  first  be  ob¬ 
tained.  In  the  case  of  his  absence  he  should  be  allowed 
to  choose  his  substitute,  after  consultation  with  the  music 
committee. 

The  organist  and  choir-master  are  usually  one  and  the 
same  person,  except  in  churches  with  a  large  choir  which 
must  be  specially  trained.  In  such  churches  there  is  often 
a'  choir-master  in  addition  to  the  organist.  In  small 
churches  it  is  often  necessary  to  depend  upon  a  volunteer 
musician  for  service  as  organist,  and  often  such  individuals 
render  very  faithful  and  devoted  service  to  the  church, 
accounting  it  as  their  way  of  serving  God.  But  there 
are  unavoidable  limitations  to  volunteer  service,  however 
devoted,  for  the  volunteer  is  almost  always  an  amateur 
instead  of  a  professional,  and  the  amateur’s  training  and 
technique  are  seldom  equal  to  those  of  a  professional 
musician.  Therefore,  when  the  finances  of  the  church  and 
the  circumstances  of  the  community  permit,  it  is  better 
for  the  church  to  employ  a  professional. 

The  music  committee  should  never  forget,  however,  that 
something  more  than  technical  ability  to  play  an  organ  is 
required  to  make  a  good  church  organist.  The  organist, 
whether  man  or  woman,  must  also  be  a  person  of  good 
character,  must  have  a  sympathetic  understanding  of  the 
service  of  worship  in  which  he  or  she  is  to  take  part,  and 
must  be  able  to  control  the  choir.  The  professional  musi¬ 
cian  who  regards  the  Sunday  service  simply  as  a  pot-boiler 
which  brings  in  a  useful  addition  to  his  income,  and  whose 
only  idea  is  to  get  through  it  with  as  little  expenditure  of 
time  and  trouble  as  possible,  is  likely  to  render  service  less 
satisfactory  than  that  of  a  devoted  amateur  who  may  be 
quite  inferior  in  technical  training.  The  writer  well  re¬ 
members  preaching  in  an  attractive  little  church  which 
had  just  been  completed  and  which  still  lacked  an  organ, 


THE  ORGANIST  AND  CHOIR 


127 


so  that  the  congregation  was  using  a  piano  for  its  instru¬ 
mental  music.  At  the  piano  was  a  highly  trained  young 
musician  connected  with  the  department  of  music  of  a  great 
university.  Seldom  have  I  heard  church  music  worse 
rendered.  His  conception  of  the  prelude  and  postlude  was 
that  of  playing  numbers  on  a  concert  program.  It  was 
quite  obvious  that  he  despised  the  hymn  tunes  as  musically 
inferior,  and  he  ran  through  them  with  entire  indifference, 
much  too  fast  to  permit  the  congregation  to  sing  well, 
treating  them  as  pianoforte  pieces.  I  have  known  many 
amateurs  whose  ability  did  not  go  much  beyond  the  reverent 
rendition  of  a  hymn  tune  who  could  have  given  that  church 
far  better  service. 

The  choir. 

Sometimes  the  choir  is  selected  by  the  music  committee. 
This  is  commonly  the  case  where  a  single  singer  or  a  quartet 
is  employed.  Where  there  is  a  boy  choir  or  a  mixed  chorus, 
it  is  commonly  better  to  let  the  choir-master  pick  his  own 
singers,  subject  to  the  terms  of  employment  laid  down  by 
the  music  committee.  In  every  case  the  choir-master  should 
be  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  discipline  in  such 
matters  as  prompt  and  regular  attendance  at  rehearsals 
and  service,  and  quiet  and  decorous  behavior  while  in  the 
church.  Where  there  is  a  large  choir  the  choir-master  will 
probably  need  the  service  of  an  assistant  to  act  as  secretary 
in  checking  up  attendance  and  payments.  One  of  the 
older  members  of  the  choir  can  be  employed  for  this 
service  at  a  slight  addition  to  his  salary. 

Types  of  choir. 

The  kind  of  choir  used  in  any  given  church  will  depend 
in  the  first  place  upon  the  form  of  service  used,  and  in  the 
second  place  upon  how  much  money  the  church  has  to 
spend  upon  its  music.  In  the  Russian  Church  the  Divine 
Liturgy  is  sung  by  an  unseen  chorus  of  men’s  voices 
unaccompanied  by  any  instrument,  with  magnificent  effect 
in  the  great  churches  which,  before  the  Revolution,  main¬ 
tained  large  choirs.  A  large  proportion  of  the  small 
Protestant  churches  in  this  country  go  to  the  other  extreme 


128 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


and  have  no  choir  at  all.  In  such  case  the  music  is, 
of  course,  limited  to  the  congregational  singing  of  a  few 
hymns  led  by  an  organist  playing  a  small  instrument 
Congregational  singing  can  be  greatly  improved  when  cir¬ 
cumstances  permit  the  employment  of  a  precentor  whose 
primary  business  is  to  lead  the  congregation  in  its  sing¬ 
ing,  but  who  should  also  be  able  to  sing  an  occasional 
solo-anthem.  A  good  baritone  voice  is  the  best  for  this 
purpose. 

Throughout  the  nineteenth  century  the  great  majority 
of  Protestant  churches  which  could  afford  to  spend  money 
for  singers  were  in  the  habit  of  employing  quartets,  which 
became  the  typical  church  choir.  Not  infrequently,  of 
course,  the  members  of  the  quartet  were  devout  Christians 
— perhaps  members  of  the  church — as  well  as  good  musi¬ 
cians  moved  by  high  ideals.  Nevertheless  the  effect  of  the 
professional  quartet  upon  church  music  was  bad  because 
it  begot  mischievous  ideas  as  to  the  function  of  music  in 
the  church.  Generally  speaking  the  excellence  of  the  music 
was  estimated  by  the  size  of  the  salaries  paid  to  the  quartet, 
it  being  rashly  assumed  that  the  higher  the  pay  the  better 
was  the  music  procured,  although,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
much  of  the  best  church  music  cannot  be  properly  rendered 
by  a  quartet.  The  result  of  that  system  was  the  church 
concert.  Congregational  singing  was  discouraged  that 
the  congregation  might  get  its  money’s  worth  in  listening 
to  the  singers  who  were  paid  to  worship  God  for  it,  an 
arrangement  no  more  logical  than  the  employment  of  hired 
mourners  at  a  funeral.  As  many  elaborate  anthems  were 
used  as  could  be  woven  into  the  service.  The  writer  recalls 
one  church  where  this  system  was  in  vogue,  in  which  no 
member  of  the  congregation  ever  ventured  to  open  his  lips 
during  the  “musical  numbers  on  the  program”  until  the 
closing  hymn  just  before  the  benediction,  when  at  last  the 
worshipers  were  permitted  to  pour  out  in  song  what  hearts 
they  had  left  in  them. 

Fortunately  for  the  spirit  of  worship  the  quartet  choir 
made  up  of  professional  singers  is  increasingly  a  thing  of 
the  past.  With  the  passing  of  this  outworn  and  inadequate 
conception  of  church  music,  the  quartet  has  in  many  cases 


THE  ORGANIST  AND  CHOIR 


129 


been  replaced  by  a  chorus  choir.  In  the  Protestant  Epis¬ 
copal  Church  this  is  usually  a  boy  choir.  There  is  much 
to  be  said  for  this  form  of  choir,  but  it  calls  for  a  skilful 
choir-master  who  is  a  sound  disciplinarian.  Another  form 
of  chorus  choir  is  that  of  male  adult  voices,  twenty  to 
thirty  in  number.  A  wrell  trained  chorus  of  such  voices  is 
very  impressive,  especially  in  the  rendition  of  the  sixteenth 
century  and  the  modern  Russian  church  music,  which  was 
written  for  just  such  choirs,  but  the  amount  of  such  music 
available  for  the  modern  Protestant  church  is  very  limited, 
and  the  adult  male  chorus  is  hardly  adapted  to  the  ordinary 
parish  church.  For  most  churches  which  can  pay  a  mod¬ 
erate  sum  for  their  music  a  mixed  chorus  of  men  and 
women  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  voices  offers  the  most 
satisfactory  results,  especially  if  it  can  be  largely  recruited 
from  the  membership  of  the  church  itself.  In  a  chorus  of 
that  size  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  singers  should  have 
voices  of  more  than  very  moderate  quality,  although  it  is, 
of  course,  an  advantage  to  have  three  or  four  singers  who 
are  good  enough  to  sing  at  least  simple  solo  parts  occa¬ 
sionally.  The  large  majority  of  the  choir,  however,  need 
only  a  modest  equipment  in  technique  and  voice,  and  they 
can  easily  be  trained  to  lead  the  congregation  in  a  good 
rendition  of  hymns,  chants  and  versicles,  and  they  can 
learn  a  sufficient  number  of  good  simple  anthems  in  the 
course  of  a  year. 

Unless  the  choir  is  made  up  wholly  of  volunteers  it  is 
better  that  all  should  be  paid  a  modest  sum,  on  a  uniform 
basis,  except  that  a  few  voices  competent  to  sing  solo  parts 
may  be  paid  more  than  the  others.  There  should  be  a  scale 
of  deductions  for  absence  from  rehearsals  or  services. 
Such  a  chorus  choir  will  prove  far  more  satisfactory  than 
the  old-time  quartet,  often  at  a  smaller  expense.  In  a  large 
church  it  is  possible  to  develop  more  than  one  such  choir. 
There  may  be,  for  example,  a  senior  choir,  which  is  that 
ordinarily  employed  for  the  regular  church  service ;  a  junior 
choir  made  up  of  young  people  who  usually  sing  at  the 
young  people ’s  meetings ;  and  a  Sunday-School  choir  made 
up  of  children.  On  special  occasions  these  choirs  can 
be  massed  in  the  church,  and  members  of  the  two  younger 


130 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


choirs  will  naturally  pass  in  the  course  of  time  into  the 
senior  choir. 

The  location  of  the  choir.1 

The  location  of  the  choir  in  the  church  building  will 
depend  upon  the  architecture  of  the  edifice  and  upon  its 
form  of  worship.  In  a  Gothic  church  the  singers  will  nat¬ 
urally  be  placed  in  that  part  of  the  edifice  called  the 
“choir,”  which  they  will  enter  and  leave  during  the  pro¬ 
cessional  and  recessional  hymns.  Nowadays  many  Episco¬ 
pal  churches  of  Georgian  or  Romanesque  architecture  have 
been  remodeled  so  as  to  allow  the  placing  of  the  choir  in 
the  chancel.  The  normal  location  of  the  choir  in  a  Georgian 
church,  however,  is  with  the  organ  in  a  choir  loft  at  the 
opposite  end  of  the  church  from  the  pulpit.  When  so 
located  the  choir  can  seldom  reach  it  by  marching  in  during 
a  processional  hymn,  but  ordinarily  assembles  in  the  choir 
loft  before  the  service  begins.  Some  choir  lofts  are  so  built 
so  as  to  admit  of  only  a  few  singers,  making  it  difficult  to 
place  a  chorus  choir  in  them. 

An  arrangement  common  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century  was  to  place  the  organ  and  choir  either 
directly  behind  or  alongside  the  minister.  Where  a  choir 
is  so  located  some  form  of  processional  and  recessional 
entrance  may  be  practicable,  otherwise  the  choir  should  be 
in  their  places  several  minutes  before  the  service  begins,  so 
that  they  may  not  come  straggling  in  after  a  large  propor¬ 
tion  of  the  worshiping  congregation  is  assembled. 

The  robed  choir. 

Where  the  choir  is  in  plain  sight  of  the  congregation,  and 
especially  where  processionals  are  used,  it  is  highly  desirable 
that  the  choir  should  be  robed.  In  Protestant  Episcopal 
churches  it  is  the  established  custom  to  dress  organist  and 
choir  in  black  cassocks  and  white  surplices.  There  is  no 
reason  why  other  Protestant  churches  should  not  adopt  the 
same  costume.  The  cassock  and  surplice  are  simply  relics 
of  the  dress  of  early  Christians  which  have  survived  to  our 
own  day.  Where  such  garments  are  accounted  too  eccle- 

1  See  also  pp.  77-78. 


THE  ORGANIST  AND  CHOIR 


131 


siastical  black  stuff  gowns  of  an  academic  type  may  be  worn 
instead.  It  is  not  a  question  of  introducing  the  use  of 
ecclesiastical  millinery  into  the  church,  but  simply  the  pro¬ 
vision  of  a  uniform  costume  for  its  value  in  adding  to  the 
dignity  of  the  service  and  in  obliterating  individual  idio¬ 
syncrasies.  Anyone  who  has  contrasted  a  file  of  rookies 
drilling  in  their  variegated  civilian  dress  with  an  equal 
number  of  soldiers  in  uniform  knows  how  much  the  uniform 
adds  to  the  dignity  of  a  group  of  individuals  moving  to¬ 
gether.  Similarly  a  choir  marching  into  church,  or  stand¬ 
ing  in  sight  of  a  congregation  to  sing,  will  be  greatly 
improved  in  appearance  if  they  are  clothed  in  uniform 
attire.  The  unduly  elaborate  dress  and  picture  hat  of  the 
soprano  will  disappear;  the  woman  w7hose  Sunday  dress  is 
very  plain  will  be  on  an  equal  footing  with  her  neighbors. 
If  the  choir  is  robed  it  will  be  easy  to  request  the  members 
to  wear  black  and  white  clothing  beneath  their  gowns  and 
to  eliminate  any  gay  colors  incompatible  writh  the  austere 
dignity  of  the  uniform  costume.  Where  there  is  a  rooted 
objection  to  such  a  uniform  dress  for  the  choir,  it  is  at  least 
desirable  to  request  the  choir  to  dress  very  simply  in  black 
and  white,  and  to  avoid  anything  which  calls  undue  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  personality  of  the  individual,  but  such  sug¬ 
gestion  should  be  made  when  the  singers  are  engaged  rather 
than  afterwards,  when  the  suggestion  is  liable  to  be 
interpreted  as  a  criticism.  Of  course  all  the  arguments 
for  putting  a  choir  into  a  uniform  costume  apply  equally 
to  the  minister,  whom  it  is  also  an  advantage  to  have 
habitually  dressed  in  either  the  cassock  and  surplice  of  the 
older  usage,  or  the  black  silk  “ Geneva”  gown  of  the 
Puritan  tradition,  while  conducting  worship. 

The  minister’s  relation  to  organist  a/nd  choir . 

The  principle  was  laid  down  in  the  second  section  of  this 
chapter  that  the  minister  should  be  responsible  for  the 
direction  of  the  entire  service  of  worship.  This  includes 
the  right  to  determine  the  points  at  which  music  is  re¬ 
quired,  the  general  character  of  the  music  to  be  used,  and 
the  selection  of  the  hymns.  Such  measure  of  control  is 
essential  if  the  service  is  to  be  a  unified  whole,  each  element 


132 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


therein  being  coordinated  with  the  rest  to  form  an  integral 
composition. 

It  is  obviously  important  that  the  minister  should  be  on 
terms  of  friendly  understanding  with  his  organist  and 
choir,  and  that  they  should  feel  that  the  social  life  and  the 
religious  opportunities  of  the  church  are  fully  open  to 
them.  The  minister  should  make  clear  to  them  his  concep¬ 
tion  of  worship,  with  the  object  of  securing  the  fullest 
measure  of  cooperation  from  them.  He  should  attend  choir 
rehearsals  occasionally,  and  should  regard  both  organist 
and  choir  as  his  partners  in  the  high  office  of  leading  public 
worship.  If  the  organist  and  choir  are  volunteers  the  min¬ 
ister  should  not  forget  that  they  are  giving  their  services 
as  their  contribution  to  the  church  life.  If  they  are  paid 
the  minister  should  remember  that  they,  like  himself,  have 
professional  standards  which  should  be  respected. 

The  minister  should  also  have  frequent  and  regular  con¬ 
ferences  with  his  organist  that  together  they  may  plan  for 
the  coming  services.  Such  conferences  may  well  take  place 
at  least  once  a  month.  In  a  large  and  busy  church  it  is 
desirable  that  the  minister  and  the  organist  should  meet 
oftener,  perhaps  each  week.  At  such  meetings  the  minister 
should  lay  before  the  organist  full  information  as  to  the 
services  scheduled  for  the  period  under  consideration,  indi¬ 
cating  the  type  of  music  which  will  be  appropriate  to  each 
occasion  and  to  the  theme  of  his  sermon,  and  discussing 
any  other  points  which  may  need  to  be  considered.  Such 
cooperation  is  essential  if  the  music  is  to  fulfill  its  true 
function  in  the  service  of  worship. 

In  the  selection  of  music  the  general  principle  to  be 
observed  is  that  where  instrumental  music  alone  is  con¬ 
cerned  the  selection  thereof  should  be  left  to  the  organist, 
after  the  general  character  of  music  needed  for  any  given 
service  has  been  indicated,  but  that  in  the  case  of  vocal 
music  the  words  to  be  sung  should  be  the  primary  considera¬ 
tion  and  should  therefore  be  selected  by  the  minister,  the 
organist  being  responsible  for  the  musical  settings.  If  the 
organist  is  a  well-trained  professional  of  good  taste  and 
sound  musical  standards,  he  should  be  given  a  free  hand 
in  the  selection  of  organ  pieces  and  musical  settings.  Very 


THE  ORGANIST  AND  CHOIR 


133 


few  ministers  have  had  sufficient  musical  education  to  be 
able  to  form  a  judgment  concerning  the  excellence  of  an 
unfamiliar  piece  of  church  music.  The  wise  minister,  there¬ 
fore,  recognizing  his  own  limitations  in  this  matter,  will 
realize  that  his  personal  likes  and  dislikes  are  merely  idio¬ 
syncrasies  of  taste.  In  order  adequately  to  supervise  the 
choice  of  words  to  be  sung,  however#,  the  minister  should 
have  on  file  a  complete  set  of  anthems  available  for  use  by 
his  choir,  and  he  should  go  over  them  with  his  organist 
occasionally  to  eliminate  such  as  have  proved  unsuitable, 
and  to  add  others  that  may  be  desired.  No  anthems  should 
be  used  which  are  not  a  natural  and  fitting  expression  of 
the  worship  of  the  congregation,  and  in  accord  with  the 
theological  position  of  the  church.  All  anthems  should  be 
selected  by  the  minister  and  organist  in  consultation,  pri¬ 
marily  with  a  view  to  the  significance  of  the  words  to  be 
sung,  taking  care  that  they  are  suitable  to  the  particular 
occasion,  thus  avoiding  an  unhappy  effect  sometimes  pro¬ 
duced  by  a  careless  organist  from  a  haphazard  selection  in 
total  disregard  of  appropriateness  to  the  particular  occa¬ 
sion  or  to  the  theme  of  the  minister’s  sermon.  The  same 
principle  applies  even  more  strongly  to  the  hymns.  They 
should  always  be  chosen  for  their  words  rather  than  for 
their  music.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  they  should  be 
sung  to  the  tune  to  which  they  are  set  in  the  hymn  book, 
but  where  there  is  a  choice  of  tunes  the  selection  of  the 
music  should  be  left  to  the  organist,  after  consultation  with 
the  minister.  The  minister,  remembering  his  responsibility 
as  the  leader  of  worship,  should  be  careful  to  select  his 
hymns  and  to  indicate  his  preference  as  regards  anthems  in 
ample  time  for  the  choir  practice  each  week.  If  he  neglects 
to  do  so  he  has  only  himself  to  blame  should  the  choir  sing 
an  inappropriate  anthem  on  Sunday,  and  the  organist 
bring  him  just  before  service  a  list  of  hymns  which  the 
choir  has  practiced  and  which  the  minister  is  requested  to 
announce. 

The  congregation  should  be  strongly  encouraged  to  join 
heartily  in  all  the  hymns,  chants  and  versicles.  These  ele¬ 
ments  in  the  service  should,  therefore,  be  sung  at  a  moderate 
speed,  with  careful  attention  to  the  meaning  of  the  words, 


134 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


without  “shading,”  or  any  unexpected  modulations  of  the 
organ.  So  far  as  possible  familiar  hymn  tunes  should  be 
used,  and  simple,  standard  chants  sung  Sunday  after 
Sunday,  new  tunes  or  chants  being  only  occasionally 
introduced. 


CHAPTER  XII 


CHURCH  ADVERTISING 

Shall  the  church  advertise? 

The  modern  art  of  advertising  in  the  commercial  world 
is  an  outgrowth  of  the  great  business  expansion  of  the  last 
half  century.  It  has  developed  a  highly  specialized  tech¬ 
nique  in  the  hands  of  experts,  who  have  replaced  the  simple 
methods  of  our  grandfathers  by  carefully  studied  appeals 
which  aim  not  merely  to  inform  possible  purchasers  where 
they  can  procure  the  goods  which  they  need,  but  to  stimu¬ 
late  in  them  a  demand  for  articles  which  they  had  not 
intended  to  purchase.  Until  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  the  churches  lagged  far  behind  commerce  in  the  use 
of  advertising,  and  today  many  churches  still  follow  only 
the  simplest  forms  of  publicity.  There  are  many  people 
to  whom  the  idea  of  advertising  the  church  is  repugnant, 
and  whose  dislike  thereof  has  been  intensified  by  samples 
which  they  have  seen.  Some  of  the  earlier  books  on  the 
subject  urged  the  application  to  church  publicity  of  some 
of  the  more  startling,  not  to  say  blatant,  methods  of  busi¬ 
ness  advertising,  and  the  jargon  of  the  commercial  sales¬ 
man  has  been  used  by  religious  promoters  in  a  way  to  irri¬ 
tate  and  disgust  devout  and  sensitive  souls.  Those  who 
were  jealous  for  the  dignity  and  sanctity  of  religion  could 
not  bear  to  see  it  hawked  about,  like  the  wares  of  the 
market-place.  Such  advertising  cheapens  religion,  and 
does  not  in  the  long  run  help  the  church.  This  sentiment 
the  writer  in  great  measure  shares.  Much  of  the  church 
advertising  of  today  is  repellent  rather  than  attractive,  or, 
at  least,  is  better  adapted  to  draw  a  crowd  of  curiosity- 
seekers  than  to  build  up  a  congregation  of  worshipers.  It 
is  often  based  on  a  theory  which  seems  psychologically 

135 


136 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


false.  Nevertheless,  the  objection  lies  not  against  church 
publicity  in  itself,  but  rather  against  unsuitable  methods 
which  have  been  used.  It  is  not  a  question  as  to  whether 
the  church  should  advertise,  but  of  how  it  should  advertise. 

Traditional  ways  of  attracting  attention. 

In  point  of  fact  the  church  has  taken  care  to  proclaim  its 
presence  to  the  community  ever  since  it  emerged  from  the 
secrecy  of  the  catacombs.  Church-builders  have  always 
sought  a  conspicuous  site,  and  have  generally  raised  a 
structure  which  towered  above  the  surrounding  houses, 
with  a  heaven-pointing  spire  to  catch  the  passer’s  eye  and 
bells  to  call  the  devout  to  worship.  This  was  sufficient  pub¬ 
licity  when  there  was  but  one  church  in  the  village  and  the 
movement  of  population  was  slight.  But  with  the  growth 
of  huge  cities  and  the  multiplication  of  denominations  the 
number  of  churches  increased  so  that  even  the  citizens 
needed  information  as  to  the  identity  of  this  or  that  house 
of  worship,  w7hile  the  fluidity  of  modern  population  has 
brought  into  town  and  city  multitudes  wholly  ignorant  of 
the  location  and  character  of  its  churches.  Under  these 
conditions  the  importance  of  a  strategic  site  remains  as 
great  as  ever,  and  a  spire  is  still  of  value  where  not  over¬ 
shadowed  and  dwarfed  by  business  structures,  but  the 
church-bell  has  been  for  the  most  part  silenced  because  its 
clangor  adds  to  the  noise  and  confusion  of  the  city  streets. 
To  these  age-old  methods  of  attracting  attention  the  mod¬ 
ern  church  has,  therefore,  added  various  other  ways  both 
of  keeping  touch  with  its  own  constituency  and  of  drawing 
in  newcomers. 

It  has  had  its  pulpit  announcements;  its  bulletin  board 
on  the  church  front,  giving  at  least  the  name  of  the  church 
and  the  hours  of  service ;  and,  since  the  advent  of  the 
modern  newspaper,  its  notice  in  the  church  column  in  the 
press.  In  a  modern  community  this  is  not  only  legitimate 
and  proper — it  is  essential.  The  only  question  is  how  best 
to  present  the  appeal  of  the  church  to  the  community.  It 
is  all  very  well  to  say  that  people  should  of  their  own  voli¬ 
tion  seeks  out  the  kind  of  church  which  meets  their  needs 
and  that  the  church  should  not  try  to  draw  them  in  by 


CHURCH  ADVERTISING 


137 


“  offering  attractions.  ’  ’  But  in  practice  the  stranger  in  a 
large  town  or  city  must  be  given  every  reasonable  assist¬ 
ance  in  finding  the  church  of  his  choice,  and  there  is  his¬ 
toric  justification  for  seeking  out  people  in  the  byways  and 
hedges  with  invitations  to  come  in. 

The  type  of  appeal. 

In  planning  the  advertising  for  a  church  the  first  point 
to  consider  is  the  section  of  the  public  which  the  church 
desires  to  interest  and  attract.  While  in  a  sense  it  is  true 
that  the  church  seeks  all  men,  and  while  in  a  rural  or  vil¬ 
lage  community  which  is  fairly  homogeneous  in  character 
a  single  church  may  serve  the  whole  community,  in  towns 
and  cities  with  mixed  population  of  widely  divergent  tastes 
and  interests  no  single  church  ever  will  or  can  appeal  to 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  People  will  be  drawn  to 
this  or  that  church  in  the  social  groups  into  which  they  nat¬ 
urally  fall ;  by  their  likes  and  dislikes  as  to  different  types 
of  service ;  or  in  accordance  with  their  theological  convic¬ 
tions  and  their  taste  in  preaching.  The  same  publicity 
which  attracts  one  sort  of  people  to  a  given  church  may 
turn  away  another  type.  Each  church  must,  therefore, 
study  its  natural  constituency,  and  must  ask  what  kind  of 
publicity  will  be  likely  to  reach  the  group  for  whom  its 
worship  has  the  most  effective  appeal.  A  church  with  a 
stately  service,  a  thoughtful  preacher,  and  music  of  high 
quality,  will  never  draw  people  who  like  florid  or  popular 
music,  sensational  preaching  and  what  is  called  “a  bright, 
cheery  service.”  The  advertising  of  each  church  must 
truthfully  indicate  the  type  of  church  that  it  is,  and  the 
kind  of  service  which  the  visitor  may  expect  to  find  there. 
Furthermore,  it  must  always  be  remembered  that  while  a 
vigorous  advertising  campaign  may  induce  people  to  visit 
a  church  once  or  twice,  no  amount  of  advertising  will  hold 
them.  That  can  only  be  done  if  the  church  fulfills  its 
promises  and  actually  gives  them  what  it  professes  to  offer 
and  what  they  want. 


138 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  church  year-book  and  calendar . 

The  printed  church  calendar  and  the  church  year-book 
are  the  best  methods  for  keeping  parishioners  informed  as 
to  what  is  going  on  in  the  church.  The  year-book,  with  its 
annual  report  of  the  minister,  of  the  treasurer  and  of  the 
secretaries  of  various  church  organizations,  is  practicable 
only  in  large  city  churches  with  a  considerable  income.  It 
is  useful  as  a  record  and  a  reference  book  in  the  relatively 
few  churches  which  can  afford  it,  but  it  has  only  a  neg¬ 
ligible  advertising  value.  The  weekly  or  monthly  church 
calendar  is,  however,  within  the  capacity  of  town  and  vil¬ 
lage  churches  with  a  modest  income  and  is  valuable  for 
them  as  well  as  for  city  churches.  When  simple,  concise 
and  attractively  printed,  it  is  worth  all  it  costs.  It  should 
contain  notices  of  all  the  parish  activities  for  the  week  or 
month,  and  it  should  be  an  established  policy  in  the  church 
that  the  minister  shall  give  out  no  notices  from  the  pulpit 
during  the  service  except  in  case  of  emergency.  A  string 
of  notices  about  all  sorts  of  subjects,  some  of  them  trivial 
and  some  only  remotely  connected  with  church  work,  seri¬ 
ously  detracts  from  the  continuity  and  dignity  of  worship. 
The  reading  of  such  notices  is  an  ineffective  and  very 
primitive  method  of  publicity,  since  it  reaches  only  those 
within  hearing  and  often  finds  them  inattentive.  It  en¬ 
courages  people  in  slipshod  habits  of  sending  hastily 
scrawled  notes  to  the  pulpit  at  the  last  moment,  and  it  is 
liable  to  abuse,  since  many  people  will  impose  upon  the 
good  will  of  the  minister  to  secure  a  cheap  publicity  for 
objects  which  have  no  legitimate  claim  upon  either  him 
or  the  congregation.  These  difficulties  can  be  avoided  by  a 
regular  monthly,  or  better,  a  weekly  calendar,  if  the  min¬ 
ister  will  require  all  notices  of  parish  activities  to  be 
announced  therein  and  will  resolutely  refuse  to  read  any 
notices  from  the  pulpit,  except  when  some  change  in  the 
announcement  already  printed  makes  such  action  impera¬ 
tive.  The  calendar  has  the  additional  advantage  of  pro¬ 
viding  much  better  publicity  than  the  spoken  notice,  since 
it  can  speak  to  those  absent  from  church  as  well  as  to  those 
present ;  it  can  answer  many  questions  about  which  people 


CHURCH  ADVERTISING 


139 


must  otherwise  make  inquiry;  and  it  can  be  edited  so  as 
to  avoid  the  clumsy  phraseology  and  the  inaccuracies  char¬ 
acteristic  of  so  many  church  notices. 

The  calendar  should  be  printed  each  week  in  time  to  be 
mailed  to  all  parishioners  for  delivery  on  Saturday  morn¬ 
ing,  or,  if  printed  monthly,  for  delivery  towards  the  end 
of  the  week  preceding  the  first  Sunday  in  the  month,  and 
additional  copies  should  be  kept  in  the  pews  for  the  period 
which  the  calendar  covers.  Out-of-date  calendars  should 
invariably  be  collected  and  destroyed ;  not  left  in  the  seats 
in  a  slovenly  clutter.  Merely  to  distribute  the  calendar  at 
church  instead  of  sending  it  through  the  mails  is  to  lose 
half  its  value.  If  mailed  it  serves  as  a  reminder  of  the 
church  to  those  who  live  at  some  distance,  or  who  are 
inclined  to  be  indifferent,  serving  to  keep  the  church  in 
remembrance.  One-cent  envelopes  can  be  used  if  a  dis¬ 
tinctive  wording  or  device  on  the  envelope  clearly  indi¬ 
cates  that  it  comes  from  the  church,  so  that  it  will  not  be 
thrown  into  the  scrap  basket,  unopened,  as  advertising 
matter.  The  addressing  of  the  envelopes  will  be  simplified 
by  the  use  of  an  addressograph.  The  minister  should  have 
general  supervision  of  the  calendar,  and  the  final  decision 
as  to  what  should  be  included  therein,  but  the  work  of 
editing  and  circulating  it  should  be  taken  off  his  shoulders 
by  a  competent  office  secretary,  or  by  a  publicity  com¬ 
mittee  or  an  individual  layman  of  experience  in  such 
matters.  The  first  page  of  the  calendar  should  always 
include  the  official  name  of  the  church,  its  location  (street 
and  town),  and  the  minister’s  name,  address,  and  telephone 
number.  An  attractive  picture  of  the  church,  or  of  some 
part  thereof,  is  also  highly  desirable,  since  four  people  will 
pick  up  and  examine  an  illustrated  leaflet  to  one  who 
will  look  at  plain  printed  matter.  The  second  page  should 
contain  information  as  to  services  of  worship ;  the  third 
page,  general  parish  notices;  the  fourth  page,  the  names 
and  addresses  of  the  church  officers,  and  of  the  organist 
and  sexton,  including  the  telephone  numbers  of  the  last 
two.  A  uniform  style  of  print  and  paper  should  be 
adopted  and  adhered  to,  distinctive  but  not  bizarre,  with 
a  type  as  clear  and  easily  read  as  possible.  If  left  to  his 


140 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


own  devices  many  a  printer  will  produce  grotesque  effects 
by  using  half  a  dozen  different  fonts  of  type  on  a  single 
page. 

Bulletin  boards. 

The  calendar  and  year-book  are  chiefly  valuable  as  a 
means  of  keeping  contact  with  persons  already  connected 
with  a  church,  or,  at  least,  already  interested  in  some 
measure.  They  are  almost  valueless  in  attracting  the 
attention  of  others.  The  bulletin  board,  outside  the  church, 
however,  (as  distinguished  from  a  notice  board  inside  the 
church  vestibule),  is  an  appeal  to  the  passer-by.  Its  pri¬ 
mary  function  is  to  inform  the  public  as  to  the  identity  of 
the  church  and  the  hours  of  public  worship.  This  was  un¬ 
necessary  in  small,  long-settled,  slow-moving  communities, 
wiiere  practically  everyone  attended  some  church  within 
easy  walking  distance  of  his  home,  but  it  is  essential  in  any 
growing  city  or  town.  No  parish  committee  ought  ever  to 
assume  that  its  church  is  so  long-established  and  so  promi¬ 
nent  that  everybody  knows  all  about  it.  The  writer  well 
recalls  a  conversation  with  a  committee  of  the  First  Church 
in  an  old  New  England  town  which  had  developed  into  a 
thriving  little  city  with  a  fine  college.  The  handsome  old 
church  stood  in  a  green,  well  back  from  the  main  street, 
without  a  sign  of  any  sort  to  indicate  what  it  was  or 
whether  services  were  ever  held  therein.  To  the  suggestion 
that  a  bulletin  board  near  the  sidewalk  would  be  useful,  the 
committee  replied  that  it  was  quite  unnecessary  because 
everybody  in  town  knew  all  about  the  First  Church.  All 
the  old  families  probably  did,  but  it  was  safe  to  say  that 
four  persons  out  of  five  who  passed  that  church  were 
either  recent  settlers  in  town,  or  college  students  from  a 
distance  to  whom  the  First  Church  meant  nothing  whatso¬ 
ever.  It  is  true  that  Roman  Catholics  place  no  boards  out¬ 
side  their  churches,  not  even  to  give  the  name  of  the  church 
and  that  of  its  rector,  but  a  Roman  church  is  usually  easy 
to  identify  by  its  architecture,  and  it  has  its  own  ways  of 
keeping  touch  with  its  constituents.  No  Protestant  church, 
however,  even  if  it  is  the  only  one  in  the  village,  should  be 
without  a  bulletin  board,  giving  at  least  the  name  of  the 


CHURCH  ADVERTISING 


141 


church  and  the  hours  of  service.  The  addition  of  the  name 
of  the  minister  is  ordinarily  desirable.  A  board  so  far 
from  the  sidewalk,  or  with  such  small  lettering  as  not  to  be 
legible  by  the  passer-by,  is  almost  useless.  It  is  not  suffi¬ 
cient  that  the  information  should  be  available  for  the  per¬ 
son  who  takes  the  trouble  to  stop  and  hunt  for  it.  The 
wording  on  the  bulletin  board  should  be  of  such  character 
that  the  passer-by  cannot  help  seeing  it — so  clear  and 
simple  that  he  who  runs  may  read  it  at  one  glance.  There¬ 
fore  it  must  be  near  the  sidewalk,  on  posts  if  the  wall  of 
the  church  is  set  back  from  the  street  more  than  ten  or 
fifteen  feet ;  it  must  be  sufficiently  elevated  to  be  seen  over 
the  heads  of  others,  but  not  so  high  as  to  require  much 
raising  of  the  eyes;  it  must  carry  no  more  wording  than 
is  essential,  and  that  in  letters  large  enough  to  be  read  by 
good  eyes  across  a  street  of  moderate  width ;  the  lettering 
must  stand  out  from  the  background,  either  of  the  board 
itself  or  of  the  church  wall,  with  sufficient  distinctness  to 
catch  the  eye  of  the  passer,  especially  if  the  church  be 
located  on  a  busy  city  street  with  its  countless  other  dis¬ 
tractions.  There  are  innumerable  varieties  of  bulletin 
boards — the  old-fashioned  black  sanded  board  with  small 
gold  letters ;  the  yellow  varnished  board  with  red  or  black 
painted  letters,  which  came  next;  the  commercial  boards 
with  glazed  cover  and  movable  metal  letters,  white  on  black 
or  black  on  white ;  boards  to  which  cardboard  sheets  with 
painted  notices  can  be  attached.  The  old-fashioned  ones 
were  generally  ineffective ;  the  modern  ones  are  often  ugly 
and  inartistic.  The  best  compromise  is  probably  a  bulletin 
board  designed  by  the  architect  of  the  church,  with  the 
standing  information  painted  on  the  frame,  and  glass 
covered  spaces  for  standard-sized  advertising  cards  to  be 
inserted  week  by  week,  to  give  current  information.  Gold 
letters  on  black,  or  black  on  natural  wood,  are  much  less 
visible  than  white  on  black,  while  black  letters  on  a  white 
ground  most  readily  catch  the  eye.  On  artistic  grounds 
there  may  be  objections  to  a  square  of  white  against  the 
stone  or  brick  wall  of  the  church,  but  the  eye  of  the  passer 
will  instinctively  turn  to  that  white  spot,  and  will  read 
what  is  printed  thereon  if  the  lettering  is  clear  and  simple 


142 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


and  the  notice  no  longer  than  the  four  or  five  words  which 
the  eye  ordinarily  seizes  at  a  glance.  More  than  that 
requires  conscious  prolongation  of  the  attention,  so  that  to 
crowd  the  board  with  information  is  to  diminish  the  chances 
of  its  being  read  by  the  quick  passer-by. 

Newspaper  notices. 

Another  familiar  method  of  church  advertising  is  the 
church-notice  column  in  the  Saturday  night  or  Sunday 
morning  papers.  Most  churches  in  towns  and  cities  use 
this  form  of  publicity,  not  so  much  for  the  information  of 
their  own  constituents  as  for  the  outside  public,  the  floating 
and  unchurched  population.  Formerly  it  was  the  custom 
for  each  church  to  buy  such  space  as  it  could  afford  and 
to  put  in  its  own  notice,  whether  in  the  form  of  a  simple 
statement  as  to  the  hours  of  service  and  name  of  the  min¬ 
ister,  or  more  detailed  information  as  to  the  sermon  topic 
and  the  music  to  be  rendered,  ending  with  a  general  invita¬ 
tion  to  all  and  sundry.  The  present  tendency  is  for  all  the 
churches  in  a  town,  or,  in  large  cities,  all  the  churches  of 
a  given  denomination,  to  unite  in  buying  space  which  is 
then  apportioned  among  them.  Such  cooperative  adver¬ 
tising  is  more  economical. 

It  is  a  common  modern  practice  for  the  minister  to  adver¬ 
tise  the  subject  of  his  sermon  in  the  church  calendar,  in 
the  press  and  on  the  bulletin  board.  Advertising  experts 
recommend  this  practice,  and  it  is  possible  that  some  per¬ 
sons  are  drawn  to  church  by  their  desire  to  hear  this  or 
that  topic  discussed.  The  practice  is  also  defended  on  the 
ground  that  many  regular  parishioners  who  may  be  unable 
to  come  every  Sunday  like  to  know  what  the  minister  is  to 
talk  about  and  will  make  an  especial  effort  to  get  out  when 
subjects  of  interest  to  them  are  announced.  In  spite  of 
this  prevalent  practice  in  most  Protestant  churches,  the 
writer  believes  it  to  be  psychologically  false.  So  good  a 
student  of  popular  psychology  as  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
would  never  advertise  his  sermon  topics.  To  do  so  places 
an  undue  emphasis  on  the  preacher  and  his  message.  The 
fundamental  purpose  of  a  church  service  is  the  worship  of 
Almighty  God,  and  the  personality  of  the  preacher  ought 


CHURCH  ADVERTISING 


143 


to  be  subordinated  to  that  end.  The  minister  is  not  in  the 
position  of  a  lecturer,  who  draws  only  by  virtue  of  his 
ability  to  please  or  entertain,  or  by  interest  in  his  subject. 
Advertising  of  sermon  subjects  tends  to  the  development  of 
the  bad  habit  of  looking  down  the  column  of  service  an¬ 
nouncements  on  Sunday  morning  to  see  what  attractions 
are  announced,  as  one  might  scan  the  theater  column  on  a 
Saturday  evening.  It  encourages  church  vagrants,  who  go 
from  church  to  church,  according  to  the  music  and  preach¬ 
ing  offered.  That  is  not  the  way  to  build  up  a  stable  con¬ 
gregation.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
churches  very  seldom  advertise  the  preacher,  or  the  sermon 
topic,  except  for  special  occasions,  such  as  “ missions.’ ’ 
Most  Protestant  Episcopal  churches  are  also  very  reticent 
in  such  advertising.  But  both  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  churches  have,  at  least  in  many  dio¬ 
ceses,  a  very  efficient  publicity  service  which  keeps  the 
newspapers  supplied  with  a  constant  stream  of  informa¬ 
tion  as  to  church  happenings.  Furthermore,  the  adver¬ 
tising  of  sermon  subjects  often  tends  to  sensationalism. 
Many  great  sermon  topics  do  not  readily  lend  themselves 
to  titles  which  will  attract  attention,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  minister  is  always  tempted  to  put  too  much 
thought  into  phrasing  a  catchy  title,  startling  or  allitera¬ 
tive,  and  not  enough  thought  into  the  sermon  itself.  There 
is  also  the  danger  of  unintended  effect.  A  well  known 
church  in  Boston  a  few  years  ago  startled  passers-by  by 
announcing : 

Morning  Service:  Hell  and  Who  Will  Be  There. 

Evening  Service:  Lord,  Send  Me. 

Another  church  is  said  to  have  proclaimed  the  following : 

Morning  Service:  The  Pastor  Will  Preach. 

Evening  Service:  What  the  Fool  Said. 

The  real  trouble  with  sensational  preaching  is  its  tend¬ 
ency  to  sink  to  trivial  and  unworthy  subjects  instead  of 
dealing  with  the  great  problems  of  religious  life  and 
thought.  The  sermon  subjects  announced  by  some  minis- 


144 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


ters  give  superabundant  evidence  of  this.  There  is  the 
minister  who,  during  the  baseball  season,  preaches  on 
“Play  Ball!”  Another  announces  “Hobble  Skirts”  as  his 
topic ;  another,  1 1  Simon  Says  ‘  Thumbs  Up  !  ’  ” ;  another, 
“Good-by,  God,  I’ve  Gone  to  California.”  A  local  news¬ 
paper  in  New  England  a  few  years  ago  published  the 
following  item : 

“The  program  for  the  evening  [at  a  certain  church]  in¬ 
cluded  the  usual  enthusiastic  song  service,  a  trombone  solo 

by -  — ,  and  a  short  address  by  the  pastor  on  ‘  Blowing 

Your  Own  Horn.’  [Presumably  a  delicate  tribute  to  the 
trombone  soloist!]  Next  Sunday  the  pastor  speaks  on  the. 
subject — the  fourth  in  the  series  on  the  Sermon  On  The 
Mount — ‘I  Should  Worry.’  ” 

Could  anything  short  of  actual  blasphemy  do  more  to 
debase  the  beauty  and  dignity  of  religion,  or  more  effec¬ 
tively  turn  people  of  intelligence  and  of  reverent  spirit 
away  from  the  church  ? 

A  similar  criticism  applies  to  most  advertisements  of 
church  music.  It  is  appropriate  to  include  in  the  calendar 
information  as  to  the  music  to  be  used  in  the  order  of  wor¬ 
ship,  since  many  of  the  congregation  like  to  have  the  words 
of  the  anthem  before  them  or  to  be  able  to  identify  a 
familiar  chant  or  organ  prelude.  But  detailed  advertising 
of  the  “musical  program,”  including  the  names  of  the 
singers,  whether  in  the  press  or  on  the  bulletin  board,  is 
again  psychologically  false,  so  far  as  the  usual  Sunday 
service  is  concerned.  The  people  who  are  drawn  by  it 
come  as  to  a  free  concert,  rather  than  to  a  house  of 
worship,  and  can  seldom  be  built  into  the  body  of  the 
church.  While  such  advertising  may  draw  a  crowd,  it 
is  very  questionable  whether  it  will  ever  form  a  congre¬ 
gation. 

Advertising  the  minister. 

The  experts  on  commercial  advertising  often  urge  the 
necessity  of  advertising  the  minister  for  the  sake  of  his 
church.  If  the  minister  be  a  striking  personality  he  may, 
indeed,  find  it  impossible  to  keep  himself  out  of  the  public 
print,  but  the  practice  of  deliberately  exploiting  him  as 


CHURCH  ADVERTISING 


145 


part  of  the  advertising  campaign  of  his  church  is  to  be 
condemned  as  highly  objectionable.  The  tendency  of  some 
Protestant  ministers  to  make  use  of  the  press  in  advertising 
themselves  produces  numerous  gross  instances  of  unpro¬ 
fessional  conduct.  The  accepted  codes  of  ethics  in  law  and 
medicine  forbid  the  lawyer  or  the  doctor  to  advertise,  or 
to  procure  for  themselves,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  any 
publicity  eulogizing  their  professional  achievements.  The 
ministry  greatly  needs  a  similar  rule. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  legitimate  use  of  the  press  in  giving 
public  information  as  to  the  activities  of  a  given  church, 
and  the  minister’s  name  cannot  be  altogether  excluded 
from  such  press  reports,  whether  in  the  daily  papers  or  in 
denominational  weeklies.  The  minister  should  always  re¬ 
member,  however,  that  the  purpose  of  such  reports  is  not 
to  advertise  himself  but  to  give  the  public  needed  informa¬ 
tion  about  the  church.  If  he  prepares  the  reports  himself 
he  should  not  mention  himself  unless  the  situation  requires 
it,  and  should  then  limit  himself  to  a  plain  statement  of 
facts,  unembellished  by  laudatory  comments.  If  the 
reports  are  prepared  by  others  he  should  require  them  to 
obey  the  same  rule.  In  every  case  the  publicity  is  to  be 
sought  for  the  church,  and  not  for  the  man. 

It  is  legitimate  for  the  minister  to  furnish  information 
about  himself  to  the  press  on  occasions  when  the  public  is 
entitled  to  it — as  when  he  accepts  a  call  to,  or  resigns  from 
a  given  parish.  Often  he  alone  can  state  the  facts  accu¬ 
rately,  and  in  such  instances  he  should  give  the  papers  a 
clear,  concise  statement,  in  writing,  of  the  outstanding 
facts  of  his  career,  but  without  embellishment,  and  without 
headlines,  which  the  editors  will  write  in  any  case.  It  is 
not  unprofessional  for  him  also  to  furnish  a  photograph  if 
asked  for  it.  In  theory  such  action  is  open  to  objection, 
but  in  practice  it  is  a  mode  of  self -protection,  since  if  he 
does  not  furnish  the  desired  material  some  unscrupulous 
paper  is  liable  to  invent  a  career  for  him  and  to  “fake”  a 
photograph. 

It  is  not  unprofessional  for  the  minister  from  time  to 
time  to  send  to  the  press  a  summary  of  his  own  sermons, 
either  by  request  or  on  his  own  initiative,  when  they  deal 


146 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


with  topics  of  genuine  public  interest,  or  matters  to  which 
public  attention  may  properly  be  called,  but  he  should  be 
scrupulous  in  not  demanding  more  than  his  fair  share  of 
newspaper  space.  It  is  better  for  him  to  make  his  own 
summary  of  his  sermon  than  to  trust  to  a  reporter,  but 
the  minister  must  not  introduce  any  laudatory  remarks 
about  himself.  Similarly,  he  may  give  an  interview  to  the 
press  if  requested  to  do  so,  on  some  subject  of  public  policy 
or  morals,  or  he  may  write  letters  to  the  press  as  a  means 
of  influencing  public  opinion.  But  he  will  do  well  to  insist 
that  the  interview  be  written  out  and  approved  by  him 
before  publication;  he  must  be  careful  in  the  case  of  con¬ 
troversial  topics  to  make  it  clear  that  he  is  expressing  only 
a  personal  opinion,  and  is  not  speaking  for  his  church  as  a 
whole  where  he  has  no  right  thus  to  speak;  he  should 
beware  of  overestimating  or  of  undermining  his  influence 
by  too  frequent  interviews  or  published  letters;  and  he 
must  never  use  interviews  or  letters  merely  as  a  means  of 
keeping  himself  before  the  public. 

While  the  use  of  the  press  in  the  foregoing  ways  is  legiti¬ 
mate,  the  minister  must  always  remember  that  its  sole 
justification  is  the  interest  of  his  church  or  of  some  cause 
of  public  morality — never  the  exploitation  of  his  person¬ 
ality  or  the  spread  of  his  own  fame.  For  himself  he  may 
“not  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  voice  to  be  heard  in  the 
street.”  His  best  work  is  done  noiselessly,  without  the 
slightest  regard  to  public  fame.  He  should  dread  praise 
more  than  blame.  Therefore,  it  is  unprofessional  for  him 
to  seek  newspaper  publicity  on  any  and  every  possible 
occasion.  If,  for  instance,  he  is  to  speak  at  some  church 
convention,  he  should  not  send  press  notices  and  photo¬ 
graphs  of  himself  in  advance  to  the  newspapers  of  the  city 
in  which  the  convention  is  to  be  held.  The  publicity  for 
such  occasions  is  usually  in  the  hands  of  a  denominational 
or  local  publicity  agent,  and  the  individual  minister  should 
provide  the  press  with  no  information  about  himself  save 
at  the  request  of  the  authorized  agent.  If  any  distinction 
comes  to  him — an  honorary  degree,  an  invitation  to  occupy 
a  famous  pulpit — it  is  improper  for  him  to  seize  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  “write  up  a  story”  about  himself  for  the  news- 


CHURCH  ADVERTISING 


147 


paper  in  his  home  town,  that  he  may  be  thereby  glorified. 
Still  worse  is  it  for  him  to  invent  “news”  about  himself — 
to  spread  a  rumor  that  he  is  about  to  be  called  to,  or  has 
refused  a  call  from  this  or  that  conspicuous  pulpit,  when 
in  fact  the  call  has  not  been  given  him. 

It  is  a  gross  breach  of  ethics  for  the  minister  to  write  up 
anonymous  ‘  ‘  puffs  ’  ’  about  himself,  intended  to  advance  his 
professional  reputation.  An  instance  of  such  ethical  blind¬ 
ness  occurred  a  few  years  ago  in  one  of  our  large  cities.  A 
certain  clergyman  greatly  desired  to  be  elected  bishop  of  a 
neighboring  diocese.  He  was  one  of  the  prominent  candi¬ 
dates  for  the  position,  but  was  opposed  by  many  church 
people  on  the  ground  of  the  heterodoxy  of  his  opinions.  He 
had  had  occasion  from  time  to  time  to  write  unsigned  edito¬ 
rials  for  the  leading  local  newspaper,  which  was  entirely 
legitimate,  but  on  this  occasion  he  wrote  an  editorial 
strongly  commending  himself  for  the  bishopric  and  defend¬ 
ing  his  own  orthodoxy,  and  took  it  to  the  city  editor  with 
the  request  that  he  publish  it.  The  editor  was  not  a  church 
member,  but  he  had  his  own  standards  of  ethics  and  was 
profoundly  shocked  at  the  immorality  of  the  proceeding, 
and  quite  properly  refused  to  use  the  editorial.  The  cler¬ 
gyman  did  not  attain  the  desired  honor.  More  naive,  but 
equally  disgraceful  ways  of  obtaining  personal  notoriety 
appear  from  time  to  time  in  the  papers.  A  few  years  ago 
an  item  was  widely  published  in  the  daily  press  in  which 
a  certain  minister  publicly  boasted  of  his  own  ‘  ‘  press-agent 
stunts.”  Among  other  things  he  told  of  how  a  nine-year- 
old  boy  had  fallen  off  a  pier  into  a  certain  lake  and  of  how 
he  himself  had  then  rushed  into  the  water,  a  little  above  his 
knees,  dragged  the  boy  out,  and  had  permitted  the  news¬ 
papers  to  “write  it  up”  as  a  thrilling  rescue,  thus  attract¬ 
ing  attention  to  himself  and  to  his  church !  This  parson 
obviously  missed  his  vocation.  He  should  have  been  a  hero 
of  the  “movies.”  More  recently  we  were  informed  by  the 

press  that  ‘  ‘  the  Rev. - ,  pastor  of  a  church  in - , 

ate  twenty-three  pancakes  at  a  pancake  supper  and  thus 
vanquished  Mrs. - ,  president  of  the  Ladies’  Aid  Soci¬ 

ety,  who,  even  for  the  sake  of  the  building  fund,  could  only 
swallow  twenty.  Thus  lively  interest  in  the  church  work 


148 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


was  awakened  in - and  more  than  $25  was  added  to 

the  fund !” 

Men  who  have  no  more  appreciation  than  this  of  the 
honor  and  dignity  of  a  minister  in  the  Church  of  Christ 
ought  to  be  promptly  deposed.  Happily  they  are  few  in 
number. 

The  publicity  committee. 

To  secure  effective  publicity  the  work  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  an  experienced  individual,  or  of  a  working  com¬ 
mittee.  The  minister  should  not  be  expected  to  serve  as 
publicity  agent  for  his  own  church,  though  he  should  be  a 
member  of  the  committee,  or  be  in  constant  touch  with  the 
individual  agent.  The  responsible  agent  or  committee 
should  have  charge  of  the  calendar,  press  notices  and  bul¬ 
letin  board,  and  ought  to  confer  with  the  minister  each 
week  as  to  procedure.  To  be  effective,  publicity  must  be 
worked  out  in  ample  season.  Timeliness  is  of  prime  im¬ 
portance.  If,  for  example,  a  given  church  is  planning  to 
hold  a  series  of  special  afternoon  or  evening  services,  it 
should  not  wait  until  the  last  moment  before  making  its 
announcements.  Weeks  of  preparation  are  often  necessary. 
The  announcements  must  be  formulated  and  printed,  mail¬ 
ing  lists  revised,  and  ‘  ‘  copy 7  ’  prepared  for  the  press.  This 
should  all  be  done  well  in  advance,  so  that  the  information 
may  be  released  in  time  for  it  to  filter  into  the  consciousness 
of  the  public.  It  should  also  be  remembered  that  reitera¬ 
tion  is  one  of  the  great  secrets  of  advertising.  Most  people 
will  pay  little  attention  to  the  first  notice  unless  it  be  about 
something  in  which  they  are  already  interested.  They 
need  to  have  the  matter  brought  to  their  attention  several 
times,  and  in  different  ways. 

In  making  use  of  the  press  the  minister,  or  the  respon¬ 
sible  publicity  agent  of  the  church,  should  always  cultivate 
acquaintanceship  with  the  editors,  particularly  the  city 
editors,  of  the  local  newspapers.  He  will  generally  find 
them  friendly  and  ready  to  cooperate  if  he  proves  consider¬ 
ate  of  them.  That  consideration  should  show  itself  in  the 
following  ways.  He  must  not  be  greedy  in  asking  for  too 
much  space ;  he  must  not  expect  them  to  send  for  news  on 


CHUR  CPI  ADVERTISING 


149 


the  mere  chance  of  getting  some,  but  must  send  to  them  in 
good  season  what  he  wants  printed,  clearly  typewritten, 
double-spaced,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only ;  he  must  not 
expect  them  to  print  everything  he  sends — they  can  use  it 
only  if  it  is  real  “news”  dealing  with  matters  of  public 
interest,  and  when  it  is  not  crowded  out  by  other,  and 
what  the  editor  deems  to  be  more  important,  news.  It  will 
often  pay  the  minister  to  telephone  to  the  city  editor  a 
couple  of  days  in  advance,  to  say  that  a  sermon  or  address 
on  such  and  such  a  topic  is  to  be  given,  and  to  ask  if  the 
paper  would  not  like  a  report  of  it,  delivered  for  release 
at  a  given  hour.  Finally,  he  must  leave  to  the  editor  his 
recognized  right  of  writing  the  headlines.  Very  often  they 
will  not  be  what  the  minister  would  have  chosen;  they 
may  seriously  distort  his  meaning,  but  that  is  one  of  the 
perils  of  publicity.  He  must  be  content  if  the  paper  prints 
unchanged,  or  but  little  abbreviated,  the  summary  which 
he  has  prepared.  That,  at  least,  will  be  more  accurate  than 
the  hasty  notes  of  a  “cub”  reporter,  unfamiliar  with  the 
whole  subject. 

The  advertisement  of  a  loyal  congregation. 

After  all,  the  very  best  church  advertising  is  that  done 
by  the  whole  congregation  when  it  is  enthusiastic  over  its 
church,  and  proud  of  what  it  stands  for  in  the  community. 
Nobody  wants  to  join  a  church  for  which  its  members  are 
always  apologizing,  for  whose  minister  they  are  making 
excuses,  in  which  they  do  not  like  to  acknowledge  member¬ 
ship.  It  is  told  of  a  certain  New  York  church  which,  a 
good  many  years  ago,  called  a  new  minister,  that  a  critic 
said  to  one  of  the  trustees,  “Well,  I  don’t  think  your  new 
minister  is  a  great  preacher!”  “No,”  was  the  reply,  “not 
yet;  but  we  are  going  to  make  him  a  great  preacher.” 
And  they  did,  by  their  loyal  and  enthusiastic  support. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  STRANGER 

The  church  and  the  stranger. 

Criticism  of  the  church  for  its  coldness  toward  strangers, 
especially  when  they  are  poorly  clad  or  unprepossessing  in 
appearance,  is  no  new  thing.  Indeed  it  is  almost  as  old  as 
Christianity  itself,  for  in  the  Epistle  of  James  we  read, 
“My  brethren,  hold  not  the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
.  .  .  with  respect  of  persons.  For  if  there  come  into  your 
synagogue  a  man  with  a  gold  ring,  in  fine  clothing,  and 
there  come  in  also  a  poor  man  in  vile  clothing ;  and  ye  have 
regard  to  him  that  weareth  the  fine  clothing,  and  say,  Sit 
thou  here  in  a  good  place;  and  ye  say  to  the  poor  man, 
Stand  thou  there,  or  sit  under  my  footstool ;  are  ye  not 
divided  in  your  own  mind,  and  become  judges  with  evil 
thoughts V’1  Evidently  in  the  apostolic  church  the  prac¬ 
tice  had  already  arisen  of  showing  the  more  presentable 
members  of  the  congregation  to  the  front  pews.  Such  dis¬ 
crimination  has  always  been  disapproved  by  the  better 
mind  of  the  church  as  being  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
even  in  those  periods  when  the  church  has  been  most 
inclined  to  a  weak  compliance  with  worldliness. 

So  far  as  hospitality  to  the  stranger  is  concerned,  both 
the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Eastern  churches  have  usually 
been  more  free  from  just  ground  for  criticism  than  most 
of  the  Protestant  churches.  In  the  Russian  Church,  for 
example,  there  are  no  seats,  except  perhaps  little  stools  for 
the  infirm  and  aged,  and  in  the  pre-Revolutionary  days 
princes  and  peasants,  clerks  and  great  ladies  stood  or  knelt 
throughout  the  Divine  Liturgy,  side  by  side,  without  the 
slightest  discrimination  on  account  of  rank,  wealth  or  occu- 

1  James  ii,  1-4. 


150 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  STRANGER 


151 


pation.  The  only  concession  was  a  slight  railing  enclosing 
a  small  space  for  members  of  the  imperial  family.  The 
Roman  Church  has  also  held,  at  least  in  theory,  to  the 
equality  of  all  men  in  the  sight  of  God.2 

The  practice  of  some  Protestant  churches  offers  a  painful 
contrast.  Many  an  old  Anglican  church  has  its  squire’s 
pew,  comfortably  fitted  up  for  the  occupancy  of  the  patron 
of  the  living.  And  one  of  the  worst  features  of  a  proprie¬ 
tary  church,  or  of  rented  pews,  is  the  almost  inevitable 
tendency  for  the  pew  owner  or  renter  to  claim  exclusive 
right  of  occupancy,  even  to  the  point  of  ejecting  the 
stranger  who  unwittingly  trespasses  upon  his  preserve. 

In  recent  days  there  have  been  a  number  of  cases  in  our 
larger  cities  in  which  investigators  have  dressed  themselves 
rather  shabbily  and  gone  the  rounds  of  the  better-known 
churches  of  the  community  to  see  to  what  extent  they  are 
following  the  apostolic  injunction,  writing  up  their  find¬ 
ings  as  newspaper  stories.  Generally  they  report  a  cour¬ 
teous  reception.  But  every  church  needs  constantly  to  bear 
in  mind  the  question  of  its  attitude  towards  the  stranger. 
The  ideal  ought  to  be  that  laid  down  in  the  Rule  of  St. 
Benedict  for  the  reception  of  strangers  at  the  monastery : 
‘‘All  guests  shall  be  received  as  though  they  were  Christ 
himself,  for  he  himself  said,  ‘  I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took 
me  in.’  Chiefly  in  the  reception  of  poor  and  of  pilgrims 
shall  care  be  most  anxiously  exhibited,  for  in  them  is  Christ 
received  the  more.  ’  ’ 3 

Hospitality  to  the  stranger  is  fundamentally  dependent 
upon  the  spirit  of  the  congregation,  all  the  members  of 
which  should  remember  that  though  the  church  building 
may  be  theirs  in  a  legal  sense,  it  is  also,  and  in  a  larger 
sense,  the  house  of  God,  in  which  no  human  soul  should  be 
a  stranger.  Every  visitor  should  therefore  be  thought  of 
as  the  guest  of  the  church,  and  made  welcome  as  such.  A 
very  few  acts  of  rudeness  will  give  a  church  a  bad  name, 
whereas  the  habit  of  simple  courtesy  will  bring  it  a  reputa¬ 
tion  for  friendliness. 

2  Gregory,  1  ‘  Regulse  Pastoralis  Liber,  ’  ’  Part  II,  Chap.  VI. 

■  Rule  of  St.  Benedict,  Section  53,  trans.  E.  F.  Henderson. 


152 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


Reception  of  strangers . 

It  is  not  enough,  however,  that  the  congregation  should 
mean  well.  In  a  well  organized  parish  good  intentions 
must  find  definite  channels  of  expression.  The  stranger  at 
the  door  should  be  met  by  a  competent  and  courteous 
usher  and  shown  as  promptly  as  possible  to  a  seat.  It  is 
far  better  for  the  young  laymen  of  the  parish  to  serve  as 
ushers,  each  on  a  given  Sunday  in  the  month,  under  the 
direction  of  a  head  usher  who  is  responsible  for  the  over¬ 
sight  of  this  work,  than  for  the  parish  to  depend  upon  a 
paid  sexton  who  is  humanly  liable  to  be  obsequious  to  his 
employers — the  parishioners — and  rude  to  strangers. 
Furthermore,  the  stranger  is  more  likely  to  feel  that  he  is 
welcome  if  he  is  met  at  the  door  by  a  member  of  the  church 
family  instead  of  by  a  paid  employee.  Ushering  is  one  of 
the  best  ways  in  which  a  young  man  can  make  his  contribu¬ 
tion  of  personal  service  to  the  church,  and  it  is  better  to 
leave  the  sexton  free  to  attend  to  his  duties  as  caretaker, 
such  as  ringing  the  bell,  supervising  the  furnace,  and  open¬ 
ing  or  shutting  the  windows.  In  a  church  in  which  pews 
are  owned  or  rented,  and  must  therefore  be  reserved,  at 
least  until  the  hour  of  service,  a  reasonable  number  of  good 
pews  should  be  kept  in  the  hands  of  the  parish  for  the  use 
of  visitors  so  that  they  may  not  be  kept  waiting  at  the 
church  door,  perhaps  for  many  minutes,  while  the  church 
members  pass  in  to  their  seats.  Nothing  so  quickly  per¬ 
suades  the  stranger  that  he  is  not  wanted  as  to  be  kept 
waiting  unnecessarily.  If  the  service  has  begun  the  usher 
should  give  the  visitor,  as  he  is  seated,  a  service  book  open 
at  the  right  place.  At  the  close  of  worship  the  ushers  can 
often  with  advantage  speak  to  the  visitors  whom  they  have 
seated,  inviting  them  to  come  again. 

The  hospitality  committee. 

Besides  the  corps  of  ushers  there  should  be  a  formally 
appointed  committee  on  hospitality,  including  both  men 
and  middle-aged  or  elderly  women,  the  number  dependent 
upon  the  size  and  location  of  the  parish.  The  members  of 
this  committee,  which  may  wrell  include  some  of  the  ushers, 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  STRANGER  153 


should  be  selected  from  regular  attendants  at  church, 
chosen  for  their  ability  to  approach  strangers  easily  and 
pleasantly.  Their  first  duty  is  to  speak  to  visitors  after 
the  service — nothing  more  than  a  brief  pleasant  word  to 
the  entire  stranger,  unless  he  or  she  evinces  a  desire  for 
further  acquaintance.  Frequently  the  stranger  desires  to 
go  out  quickly  without  being  stopped,  and  nothing  will  so 
deter  such  a  visitor  from  returning  to  the  church  as  to  be 
set  upon  by  several  persons  eager  to  shake  his  hand  and  to 
exact  from  him  a  promise  to  appear  again  the  next  Sunday. 
A  friendly  nod  and  a  “Glad  to  see  you;  hope  you  11  come 
again,”  from  one  person  is  enough  unless  the  visitor  evi¬ 
dently  desires  further  converse.  If  he  comes  a  second  or 
third  time,  a  member  of  the  committee  on  hospitality  may 
ask  if  he  would  not  like  to  meet  the  minister,  or  may  talk 
with  him  about  becoming  a  regular  attendant.  When  that 
stage  has  been  reached  the  second  duty  of  the  hospitality 
committee  is  to  see  that  the  newcomer  and  his  family  are 
called  upon  at  their  house,  not  simply  by  the  minister  or 
the  parish  assistant,  but  by  one  or  more  of  the  laymen  or 
women  of  the  church.  This  is  particularly  important  in 
the  case  of  strangers  in  the  community,  with  few  or 
no  social  contacts,  for  whom  the  social  life  of  the  church 
may  offer  a  valued  outlet  from  loneliness  and  isolation. 
It  is  important,  however,  that  such  calling  should  be 
done  by  more  than  one  person,  and  by  such  as  through 
common  tastes  and  interests  or  proximity  of  habitation 
are  most  likely  to  offer  congenial  friendship.  Such  call¬ 
ing  should  also,  of  course,  be  done  promptly  in  the  case 
of  newcomers  who  bring  letters  and  intend  to  join  the 
parish. 

The  minister  at  the  door . 

There  is  another  form  of  church  hospitality,  now  much 
in  vogue,  but  of  doubtful  value ;  namely,  the  practice  of 
the  minister  going  to  the  door  to  shake  hands  with  the 
people  as  they  pass  out.  This  practice  is  approved  by 
many  persons,  perhaps  desired  by  many  congregations,  yet 
it  seems  to  rest  upon  a  mistaken  theory.  It  savors  too 
much  of  the  professional  “glad  hand.”  From  the  point 


154 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


of  view  of  the  minister  it  is  not  a  natural  proceeding.  It 
emphasizes  his  personality  and  carries  the  implication  that 
the  congregation  have  been  his  guests  to  whom  he  is  saying 
farewell.  If  he  does  that  why  should  he  not  also  be  at  the 
door  to  greet  them  on  entering?  Some  months  ago,  one 
pleasant  spring  Sunday,  I  passed  a  well  known  city  church 
about  fifteen  minutes  before  the  hour  of  service.  There 
stood  the  rector  just  outside  the  door,  in  cassock  and 
biretta,  with  a  smile  and  a  handshake  for  everyone  coming 
up  the  steps.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  is  his  practice 
each  week,  or  whether  he  merely  happened  to  be  there  that 
morning,  but  his  action,  save  for  his  genial  smile,  bore  an 
uncomfortable  resemblance  to  that  of  a  certain  type  of 
undertaker  who  acts  as  it  were  on  behalf  of  the  corpse  in 
welcoming  those  wTho  come  to  the  funeral.  After  all,  the 
church  service  is  not  the  minister’s  party.  It  is  not  his 
function  to  welcome  the  coming  or  to  speed  the  parting 
guest.  The  ushers  and  the  hospitality  committee,  on  behalf 
of  the  congregation,  should  do  whatever  is  necessary  in  that 
line.  If  people  want  to  speak  to  the  minister  they  should 
come  forward  to  do  so.  After  prayer  and  sermon  he  ought 
not  to  be  in  any  mood  for  the  “glad  hand”  and  the  mere 
chatter.  Happy  is  he  if  the  pulpit  be  so  arranged  that  he 
can  go  from  it  directly  into  the  vestry,  either  making  his 
exit  with  a  recessional  hymn  or  otherwise.  He  should  be 
permitted  a  few  moments  of  quiet,  alone,  in  which  to 
remove  his  gown,  or  such  other  vestments  as  he  may  wear. 
From  his  point  of  view  the  ideal  thing  would  be  to  slip 
away  without  being  obliged  to  talk  to  people,  but  he  must 
realize  that  often  there  will  be  people  who  have  something 
to  say  to  him,  members  of  his  own  congregation,  or  visitors. 
For  their  sakes  he  must  reappear  at  the  vestry  door,  or 
meet  them  at  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  stairs,  for  it  is  their 
right  to  speak  with  him  if  they  will.  But  it  is  unnecessary 
and  undignified  for  him  to  rush  down  the  main  aisle  to  the 
door  that  none  may  escape  his  handshake. 

The  obligations  of  the  visitor. 

The  stranger  should  remember  that  he  owes  something  to 
the  church  which  he  visits.  If  he  expects  to  be  treated 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  STRANGER  155 


courteously  as  a  guest  he  must  act  the  part.  If  the  ushers 
may  not  bid  him  stand  in  yon  corner  because  he  is  poorly 
clad,  he  at  least  owes  it  to  his  hosts  and  to  himself  that  he 
should  make  himself  as  presentable  as  his  condition  per¬ 
mits.  If  he  be  placed  in  a  good  seat  he  must  behave  with 
decorum,  rising  with  the  congregation  when  they  stand, 
and  taking  part  in  the  service  so  far  as  he  is  able,  in 
nothing  giving  offense.  He  has  no  just  ground  to  complain 
of  the  coldness  of  the  congregation  if  he  does  not  meet  the 
friendly  advances  of  the  hospitality  committee  halfway,  for 
after  all,  there  is  no  reason  why  he  should  expect  to  be 
singled  out  for  especial  attention.  If  he  comes  repeatedly 
he  should  expect  to  assume  his  share  of  financial  and  other 
responsibility  for  the  church,  so  far  as  he  is  able,  that  he 
may  give  as  well  as  receive.  The  story  is  told  of  a  certain 
man  who  became  a  regular  attendant  at  a  “free  church,” 
that  is,  one  in  which  the  pews  were  neither  owned  nor 
rented,  but  were  open  to  the  firstcomer  at  service.  He  was 
in  due  time  approached  by  the  treasurer  with  an  invitation 
to  subscribe,  but  he  refused  with  indignation,  saying,  “I 
came  here  because  I  understood  that  this  was  a  free 
church!”  One  wonders  how  he  supposed  the  salaries  and 
the  coal  bills  were  paid. 

The  visitor  should  remember  also  that  the  regular  con¬ 
gregation  do  have  certain  rights,  both  legally  and  morally, 
because  they  or  their  predecessors  built  the  church  and  pay 
for  its  maintenance.  They  have  the  right  to  reserve  the 
church  for  their  exclusive  use  on  special  occasions,  admit¬ 
ting  by  ticket  only,  as  on  some  anniversary,  or  when  they 
have  secured  a  noted  speaker.  Some  church  visitors  are 
little  more  than  “religious  tramps,”  who  go  about  from 
church  to  church  as  fancy  dictates  or  church  advertisements 
draw  them.  They  are  often  spiritual  paupers,  receiving 
much  but  giving  little  or  nothing.  Well-known  churches, 
especially  in  large  cities,  are  often  flooded  with  such  per¬ 
sons  at  Christmas  and  Easter,  to  the  discomfort  of  the 
regular  parishioners.  The  stranger  on  such  occasions  has 
no  just  cause  for  complaint  if  the  seats  are  reserved  for 
the  habitual  attendants  up  to  within  a  few  minutes  of  the 
time  set  for  the  beginning  of  the  service.  The  remedy  is 


156 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


in  His  own  hands.  Let  him  also  become  a  member  of  the 
church  of  his  choice,  and  by  assuming  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  church  membership  gain  also  the  full 
rights  and  privileges  thereof. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  ETHICS  OF  THE  MINISTERIAL  PROFESSION  1 

The  moral  standards  of  the  minister. 

The  ethical  standards  of  the  minister  do  not  differ,  in 
principle,  from  those  of  any  other  honorable  man  in  the 
community.  There  is  not  one  code  of  morals  for  the 
Christian  layman  and  another  for  the  minister.  Any  action 
which  is  immoral  for  one  is  also  immoral  for  the  other. 
But  the  minister’s  conduct  is  affected  by  three  considera¬ 
tions  which  do  not  concern  the  layman — the  community 
rightly  expects  of  him  a  closer  adherence  to  high  standards ; 
certain  courses  of  conduct,  not  necessarily  wrong  in 
themselves,  are  commonly  felt  to  be  unbecoming  in  a  min¬ 
ister;  and  his  relations  with  his  professional  brethren 
present  certain  problems  in  ethics  or  etiquette  which  do 
not  confront  persons  in  other  occupations. 

The  community  expects  of  the  minister  a  higher  standard 
of  conduct  than  it  does  of  the  layman  because  the  minister 
has  openly  devoted  himself  to  the  ideals  of  the  Christian 
life,  and  may  properly  be  required  to  practice,  so  far  as 
the  grace  of  God  permits,  what  he  preaches.  Moral  weak¬ 
nesses  which  men  of  the  world  are  prone  to  consider  mere 
peccadillos,  easily  excusable,  become  in  the  minister  grave 
faults,  indicating  his  unfitness  for  his  profession.  His  good 
repute  is  essential  to  his  ministerial  status ;  an  unblem¬ 
ished  character  is  the  first  requirement  for  his  entrance 
into  and  his  continuance  in  the  ministry. 

Some  people  base  their  expectations  as  to  the  minister’s 
conduct  upon  a  false  theory.  They  seem  to  suppose  that 
just  because  a  man  has  gone  into  the  ministry  he  is  no 
longer  subject  to  the  temptations  of  the  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil.  Now  there  are  various  theories  of  ordina¬ 
nce  also  the  sections  on  ‘‘Advertising  the  Minister,”  Chap.  XII, 
pp.  144-148,  and  on  “Confidential  Communications,”  Chap.  II, 
pp.  26-27. 


157 


158 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


tion,  but  none  of  them  ascribes  to  it  any  such  sacramental 
grace  as  automatically  to  free  the  recipient  from  all 
capacity  to  sin.  The  plain  fact  is  that  the  minister  is  the 
same  man  after  ordination  that  he  was  before,  so  far  as 
his  personal  character  is  concerned,  save  that  he  has  the 
added  strength  which  comes  from  avowed  self-devotion  to 
the  work  of  God.  He  is  just  as  fallible  in  judgment ;  just 
as  liable  to  moral  error;  just  as  much  in  need  of  the  grace 
of  God  to  uphold  him.  A  minister  of  my  acquaintance 
happened  to  overhear  a  couple  of  mechanics  discussing  the 
ministry  as  they  repaired  a  motor  car.  “Well,”  said  one 
of  them,  “a  minister  ought  to  be  a  perfect  man.”  The 
ideal  minister  is,  indeed,  the  one  who  most  nearly  ap¬ 
proaches  the  Christian  ideal  of  perfection,  but  no  one 
knows  better  than  the  minister  himself  how  far  beyond  him 
that  ideal  is.  He  is  continually  aware  of  his  weakness  and 
his  limitations,  of  his  own  sins  and  shortcomings.  As  he 
comes  to  understand  what  is  expected  of  him  his  cry  is, 
“Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?” 

The  prime  moral  requisite  in  the  minister  is  integrity — 
that  his  life  shall  be  all  of  one  piece.  His  inner  life  must 
be  in  accord  with  his  outer  life,  else  he  is  a  religious  hypo¬ 
crite,  one  of  the  worst  things  a  minister  can  be.  There 
must  be  in  the  minister  a  “harmony  of  thought  and  word 
and  deed  ...  so  that  what  we  preach  with  our  lips  we 
shall  eagerly  and  unceasingly  strive  to  carry  out  in  our 
lives.  ’  ’ 2  That  moral  quality  of  integrity  of  life  is  essential 
in  any  religious  leader  if  he  is  to  hold  the  respect  of  the 
world.  His  outward  act  must  be  the  genuine  expression  of 
his  inner  life,  and  both  must  be  of  the  same  pattern  as  the 
precepts  which  he  proclaims  from  the  pulpit.  He  must  be 
like  Chaucer’s  Parson, — 

“A  bettre  preest  I  trowe  there  nowher  non  is 
He  waytud  after  no  pompe  nor  reverence, 

Ne  maked  him  a  spiced  conscience, 

But  Cristes  lore,  and  his  apostles  twelve, 

He  taught,  and  ferst  he  folwed  it  himselve.” 8 

3  Bull,  * ( Preaching,  ’  ’  p.  74. 

8  ‘ 1  Canterbury  Tales,  ’  ’  Prologue. 


ETHICS  OF  THE  MINISTERIAL  PROFESSION  159 


This  integrity  of  life  will  manifest  itself  in  various  ways. 
In  financial  matters  he  must  be  scrupulously  careful  not 
only  to  avoid  debt,  but  to  conform  to  the  strictest  standards 
of  honesty.  Not  infrequently  some  minister  shocks  busi¬ 
ness  men  by  getting  into  a  financial  tangle  through  sheer 
ignorance  of  the  ethics  of  the  business  world.  The  wise 
minister  will  refrain  from  any  attempt  to  make  money  on 
the  side,  because  where  his  treasure  is  there  will  his  heart 
be  also.  He  will  be  careful  not  to  lend  his  name  or  endorse¬ 
ment  to  business  ventures.  He  will  not  attempt  to  take 
care  of  the  money  of  other  people,  except  that  of  his  imme¬ 
diate  family,  but  will  refer  them  to  conscientious  and 
sagacious  business  advisers.  If  he  has  money  of  his  own 
to  invest  he  will  seek  such  advisers  for  himself,  avoiding 
those  financial  adventurers  who  are  ever  on  the  lookout  to 
fleece  the  unwary  by  promises  of  a  large  return  from  a 
small  investment.  He  will  not  lend  money  to  his  own  pa¬ 
rishioners  in  larger  sums  than  he  can  afford  to  lose,  since 
he  is  in  a  position  in  which  he  is  practically  prevented 
by  professional  considerations  from  bringing  suit  or 
foreclosing  a  mortgage  to  recover  his  loan  if  the  debtor 
defers  or  refuses  payment.  He  will  try  to  gain  insight 
into  the  ethical  problems  confronting  business  men  by 
discussing  with  his  parishioners  the  questions  which 
they  are  trying  to  solve,  and  he  will  rejoice  to  discover 
the  high  idealism  and  practical  wisdom  of  many  such 
men. 

In  all  relations  with  women  the  minister  must  unfail¬ 
ingly  maintain  that  outward  demeanor  of  courtesy  and 
respect  which  is  the  genuine  expression  of  an  inner  chastity 
of  soul.  Sexual  immorality  on  the  part  of  an  ordained 
minister  is  an  absolute  disqualification  for  his  continuance 
in  the  profession,  and  early  irregularities  of  this  sort  are 
a  grave  obstacle  to  his  entrance  into  it,  though  not  neces¬ 
sarily  an  insurmountable  one  if  he  has  given  good  ground 
for  confidence  in  his  reformation.  Some  great  figures  in 
the  history  of  Christianity — like  St.  Augustine  of  Hippo 
and  John  Donne,  Dean  of  St.  Paul’s — have  been  men 
whose  early  lives  were  marred  by  this  failing,  though  they 
rose  from  it  to  later  sanctity  of  life ;  but  modern  standards 


160 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


of  conduct  are  in  this  respect  much  higher  than  those  of 
the  fourth  or  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

It  is  a  sign  of  moral  weakness  for  the  minister  to  permit 
himself  even  the  relatively  harmless  familiarities  and  liber¬ 
ties  which  some  women  allow  or  encourage.  To  do  so  is  to 
enter  upon  a  path  dangerous  to  both  parties,  his  own  self- 
respect  will  be  weakened,  his  reputation  becomes  liable  to 
damage.  Therefore,  he  should  scrupulously  conform  to  the 
social  customs  prescribed  by  good  usage  in  all  matters  con¬ 
cerning  relations  with  women,  even  though  they  seem  rather 
rigid  and  formal  in  these  free  and  easy  days.  It  is  far 
wiser  for  him  to  seem  too  reserved  and  distant  with  women 
than  too  familiar,  for  it  is  this  kind  of  familiarity  which 
breeds  contempt.  He  should  avoid  giving  any  occasion  for 
gossip  or  scandal,  which,  even  when  baseless,  may  com¬ 
pletely  undermine  his  professional  usefulness.  To  that  end 
he  should  not  call  alone  upon  young  married  women  when 
their  husbands  are  away  from  home,  nor  dance  attendance 
upon  the  young  girls  of  the  community,  nor  receive  alone  in 
his  study  or  office  any  woman  with  whom  he  is  unacquainted 
or  about  whose  character  there  is  the  slightest  doubt.  In 
large  cities,  especially,  the  well-known  minister  is  in  danger 
of  some  attempt  at  blackmail  on  the  part  of  an  adventuress 
who  may  try  to  inveigle  him  into  a  compromising  situation. 
He  should  therefore  always  receive  women  whom  he  does 
not  know  in  some  place  where  other  people  are  within  call ; 
his  wife  or  a  trustworthy  domestic  if  it  be  at  the  parson¬ 
age;  the  sexton  or  the  parish  assistant  if  it  be  at  the 
church.  In  the  latter  place  it  is  prudent  to  have  a  hidden 
button  at  his  desk  which  will  ring  a  bell  to  summon  others 
in  case  of  need.  The  door  should  be  left  ajar,  or,  if  closed, 
the  key  should  be  removed  so  that  the  door  cannot  be 
locked.  Needless  to  say,  the  character  of  any  woman  em¬ 
ployed  by  the  church  in  any  capacity  should  be  such  as  to 
eliminate  any  possibility  of  gossip. 

The  minister’s  best  protection,  however,  against  any 
scandal,  is  his  own  reputation  as  a  man  who  has  always  so 
borne  himself  that  others  will  believe  no  evil  of  him.  Mar¬ 
riage  is  also  a  great  protection,  especially  if  it  be  well 
known  that  he  is  completely  devoted  to  his  wife.  Protes- 


ETHICS  OF  THE  MINISTERIAL  PROFESSION  161 


tant  churches  generally,  and  by  a  sound  instinct,  prefer  a 
married  to  an  unmarried  minister,  unless  the  latter  be  a 
young  man  who  may  reasonably  be  expected  soon  to  take 
a  wife  to  himself.  The  record  of  compulsory  celibacy  is  so 
dark  a  page  in  Christian  history  that  Protestants  believe 
that  the  moral  superiority  of  a  married  ministry  quite  out¬ 
weighs  the  accompanying  disadvantages  in  the  way  of  less 
efficient  discipline  and  organization,  and  marvel  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  has  not  had  the  insight  to  make 
marriage  at  least  permissible  to  the  secular  clergy.  Mar¬ 
riage  does,  indeed,  involve  the  minister  in  cares  and  duties 
which  in  a  measure  distract  him  from  his  church  work,  but 
it  also  means  a  much  richer  experience  of  life.  The  right 
sort  of  wife  will  double  his  usefulness — though  the  wrong 
sort  may  halve  it. 

A  third  point  at  which  the  integrity  of  the  minister 
should  be  manifest  is  in  his  sincerity  of  utterance.  He 
ought  to  be  tactful,  but  that  is  not  the  same  as  being  insin¬ 
cere,  for  tact  consists  not  in  suppressing  the  truth  but  in 
knowing  when  and  how  to  utter  it.  In  the  pulpit  and  out 
of  it  he  must  speak  what  he  believes  to  be  the  truth,  without 
fear  or  hesitation,  but  also  with  all  humility  and  grace, 
not  in  dogmatic  intolerance  or  in  pride  of  intellect.  He 
must  never  profess  to  believe  what  he  denies  in  his  heart. 
He  must  not  preach  as  his  own  the  sermon  of  another  man. 
The  ethical  standards  in  this  last  matter  vary  somewhat  in 
different  denominations,  but  in  most  Protestant  churches 
in  this  country  the  charge  of  plagiarism  is  regarded  as  a 
very  serious  one.  Most  congregations  prefer  to  hear  a 
rather  poor  sermon  which  is  the  genuine  expression  of  their 
minister’s  thought  and  feeling  than  to  have  him  announce 
that  he  will  read  the  discourse  of  another,  though  it  be  that 
of  a  famous  preacher.  They  will,  indeed,  tolerate  the 
latter  course  upon  occasion,  but  they  will  not  forgive  him 
if  he  passes  off  that  other  sermon  as  his  own.  Most 
Protestant  ministers  in  this  country  would  view  with 
strong  disapprobation  the  advice  given  by  a  modem 
English  writer,  who  says, — 

“I  do  not  say  that  you  should  never  preach  another  man’s 
sermon.  In  a  time  of  great  pressure  of  work  you  may  be  forced 


162 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


to  do  so,  and  to  preach  another  man’s  sermon  is  certainly  better 
than  to  go  in  utterly  unprepared  and  waste  your  time,  and  that 
of  the  congregation,  with  mere  vapid  talk.  Though  even  so, 
unless  you  are  prepared  to  take  a  volume  of  printed  sermons 
into  the  pulpit  and  read  from  it,  the  labor  necessary  to  assimilate 
another  man’s  sermon  and  make  it  sufficiently  your  own  for 
effective  delivery  may  well  be  as  great  as  that  needed  for  writing 
one  of  your  own. 

“Neither  do  I  say  that  it  is  necessarily  dishonest  to  preach 
another  man’s  sermon  without  acknowledgment.  I  know  some 
clergy  say  that  if  you  are  preaching  a  borrowed  sermon  you 
should  begin  with  some  such  introduction  as,  ‘Pressure  of  work 
having  prevented  my  preparing  a  suitable  sermon,  I  propose 
to-day  to  give  you  one  by  Dr.  Liddon,’  or  whoever  it  may  be. 
This  is  a  point  for  each  man’s  conscience.  I  have  known  many 
good  men  who  would  have  thought  it  needlessly  scrupulous  and 
affected  to  do  so.  But  if  you  do  borrow  anything  more  than  a 
hint  or  suggestion,  be  careful  how  you  borrow.  In  this,  as  in 
all  relations  of  life,  a  little  common  sense  is  a  good  thing.  I  once 
heard  a  clergyman  I  knew  well  deliver  Newman’s  famous  sermon 
on  Heb.  xii.  14  (the  first  in  Yol.  I  of  ‘Parochial  and  Plain 
Sermons’)  to  an  educated  congregation  as  if  it  were  his  own. 
After  the  service  I  went  into  the  vestry  and  said,  ‘Do  you  know 
what  you’ve  done?  You  have  just  delivered  the  most  famous 
sermon  in  English  pulpit  literature,  as  if  it  were  your  own.’ 
‘Oh!  have  I,’  he  replied  quite  undisturbed.  ‘I  heard  it  on  my 
holidays  and  it  seemed  rather  good,  so  I  just  took  a  few  notes.’ 
He  might  just  as  well  have  delivered  Hamlet’s  soliloquy  as  his 
own  original  composition.” 4 

In  all  these  respects  the  minister  must  preserve  his  in¬ 
tegrity  of  soul,  so  that,  whatever  his  intellectual  inadequacy 
or  his  failures  of  accomplishment,  men  may  at  least  know 
that  they  can  count  upon  his  character  as  sound  and 
true. 

Conduct  unbecoming  in  a  minister. 

There  are  some  other  matters  of  conduct,  not  necessarily 
involving  serious  moral  weakness,  on  which  the  minister  is 
judged  by  stricter  standards  than  the  layman.  The  min¬ 
ister  will  prejudice  his  standing  if  he  indulges  in 
such  frivolous  forms  of  amusement  as  dancing,  cards, 

4  Peter  Green,  1 1  The  Town  Parson,  ’  ’  pp.  129-130.  Italics  mine. 


ETHICS  OF  THE  MINISTERIAL  PROFESSION  163 


and,  in  some  communities,  the  theater,  even  where  they  are 
permitted  to  the  laymen  and  women  of  his  church.  In  all 
these  matters  he  must  be  governed  by  the  customs  of  his 
church,  neither  unnecessarily  giving  offense  by  disregard¬ 
ing  public  opinion  nor  slavishly  yielding  to  obscurantist 
prejudice.  But  if  he  follows  a  course  counter  to  public 
opinion  he  should  do  so  on  grounds  wrhich  he  can  openly 
defend. 

Similarly  he  will  do  well  to  conform  to  public  expecta¬ 
tion  in  the  matter  of  dress.  If  his  church  expects  him  to 
wear  a  clerical  garb  he  had  better  do  so.  If  not,  he  should 
so  dress  as  not  to  cause  criticism  of  his  appearance,  either 
by  copying  the  attire  of  a  fashionable  man  of  the  world  or 
by  going  to  the  other  extreme  of  a  defiant  unconventionality 
of  dress,  or  by  appearing  shabby  and  unkempt.  His  clothes 
may  be  plain,  or  even  threadbare,  but  not  dirty,  ragged,  or 
odorous,  and  his  person  should  always  be  clean  and 
pleasant.5 

In  the  matter  of  speech  the  minister  is  rightly  judged 
by  a  high  standard.  Men  who  are  themselves  given  to  pro¬ 
fanity  or  to  broad  stories  do  not  want  to  hear  such  language 
from  the  minister’s  lips.  They  will  expect  him  to  keep  his 
temper  when  they  lose  theirs.  They  find  very  irritating  a 
“proud  priest,”  who  is  self-conscious,  arrogant,  expectant 
that  the  place  of  distinction  will  be  reserved  for  him.  They 
are  quick  to  note  the  self-satisfaction  of  the  minister  who 
has  attained  to  fame  as  a  “popular  preacher.” 

A  hundred  years  ago  drink  was  a  vice  into  which  not  a 
few  ministers  fell,  as  is  still  the  case  in  Europe.  In 
America  this  has  been  increasingly  rare  in  the  last  half 
century,  and  today  has  disappeared  with  national  prohibi¬ 
tion,  since  not  even  the  minister  who  wants  to  drink  alco¬ 
holic  beverages  is  willing  to  violate  the  law  to  get  them. 
And  however  ready  some  members  of  the  community  may 
be  themselves  to  patronize  the  “bootlegger,”  they  would 
hardly  tolerate  a  minister  who  did  so. 

The  whole  matter  was  summed  up  long  ago  in  the  First 

6  It  is  worth  noting  that  at  least  two  recent  English  books  on 
clerical  life  point  out  that  it  is  a  virtue  for  the  priest  to  shave 
every  morning  on  rising! 


164 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


Epistle  to  Timothy,  wherein  it  is  written  of  the  minister 
that  he  must  be  “  without  reproach,  the  husband  of  one 
wife,  temperate,  sober  minded,  orderly,  given  to  hospi¬ 
tality,  ...  no  brawler,  no  striker,  but  gentle,  not  conten¬ 
tious,  no  lover  of  money;  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own 
house  .  .  . ;  not  double-tongued,  not  given  to  much  wine, 
not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre ;  holding  the  mystery  of  the  faith 
in  a  pure  conscience.”  6 

Relations  with  other  ministers. 

In  his  relations  with  other  ministers  there  are  certain 
standards  of  conduct  which  the  minister  should  always 
observe.  In  the  Roman  Church  and  the  Protestant  Epis¬ 
copal  Church  these  matters  are  covered  in  the  canon  law 
by  rules  which  are  the  fruit  of  long  experience  in  dealing 
with  causes  of  friction  among  the  clergy,  but  in  most 
Protestant  denominations  there  are  no  rules,  and  good  cus¬ 
toms,  not  being  reduced  to  written  form,  are  too  frequently 
neglected. 

In  the  first  place  a  minister  should  recognize  all  other 
ministers,  whether  in  his  own  or  in  another  communion,  as 
members  of  the  same  great  profession,  as  colleagues  rather 
than  as  rivals,  entitled  to  full  courtesy  and  brotherly  love. 
Therefore,  the  minister  should  be  scrupulous  to  avoid 
“sheepstealing.”  “Sheepstealing”  means  trying  to  get 
the  parishioners  in  another  church  to  transfer  their  alle¬ 
giance  to  yours.  The  minister  should  no  more  call  profes¬ 
sionally  upon  members  of  another  church  than  a  physician 
should  endeavor  to  entice  away  another  doctor’s  patients. 
The  doctor  will,  of  course,  give  professional  aid  in  an 
emergency  to  a  person  who  is  not  his  own  patient,  but  he 
must  withdraw  from  the  case  as  soon  as  it  can  be  handed 
over  to  the  patient’s  own  physician.  So  the  minister  will 
gladly  serve  in  an  emergency,  but  he  must  not  misuse  the 
opportunity  by  keeping  up  the  professional  relationship 
after  the  immediate  occasion  for  it  has  ceased.  He  may, 
for  example,  conduct  a  wedding  or  a  funeral  in  a  family 
belonging  to  some  other  church  than  his  own,  in  the  un¬ 
avoidable  absence  of  their  own  minister,  but  he  will  not 
6 1  Tim.  iii,  2-4,  8-9.  American  Revised  Version. 


ETHICS  OF  THE  MINISTERIAL  PROFESSION  165 


use  the  occasion  as  an  opening  for  alienating  them  from 
their  home  church.  No  minister  should  take  a  service  in 
another’s  church  without  the  latter’s  knowledge  and  con¬ 
sent,  for  each  minister  has  the  sole  right  to  say  who  shall 
or  shall  not  enter  his  church  to  conduct  service.  The  only 
exception  to  this  is  when  the  local  minister  cannot  be 
reached,  either  because  he  has  traveled  far  on  a  vacation 
or  is  too  ill  for  communication.  In  such  instances  an  out¬ 
side  clergyman  may  properly  conduct  such  services  as  can¬ 
not  suitably  be  postponed  until  the  local  pastor  returns 
or  recovers — a  funeral — a  wedding — a  christening  when 
there  is  occasion  for  prompt  action,  but  he  should  after¬ 
wards  write  to  the  absent  minister  giving  him  information 
about  the  proceeding.  When  the  local  pastor  is  out  of 
reach  the  minister  should  make  certain  that  the  persons 
who  desire  his  services  have  made  application  to  the  proper 
church  officers  for  the  use  of  the  church  building,  or  should 
himself  secure  their  consent  to  his  performance  of  the 
service.  He  should  do  this  also  in  the  case  of  such  services 
in  a  church  which  for  the  time  being  has  no  settled 
minister. 

Cases  will  frequently  arise  in  which  a  minister  may  be 
asked,  because  of  family  relationship  or  other  personal  ties, 
to  take  a  funeral  or  a  wedding  in  another  minister ’s  church. 
Before  he  consents  he  should  ask  that  the  local  minister 
be  invited  to  take  some  part  of  the  service  with  him.  In 
such  case  the  local  minister  takes  precedence  in  his  own 
church,  the  visitor  being  there  to  assist  and  not  to  super¬ 
sede  him.  Therefore  it  is  the  right  of  the  local  minister  to 
prescribe  the  order  of  service.  If  there  seems  to  be  ade¬ 
quate  reason  why  the  visitor  should  take  the  service  alone, 
the  permission  of  the  local  minister  must  always  be  first 
obtained.  If  he  is  invited  to  occupy  another  minister’s 
pulpit  as  a  supply,  he  is  under  obligation  to  follow  the 
usual  order  of  service  as  it  is  given  him,  and  not  to  alter 
it  or  introduce  innovations,  and  he  must  never  make  pencil 
marks  in  the  pulpit  Bible,  service  book,  or  hymn  book.  If 
he  cannot  remember  the  exact  passages  which  he  wishes  to 
use,  let  him  make  the  necessary  memoranda  on  a  bit  of 
paper. 


166 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


The  relations  between  the  senior  minister  and  his  assistants. 

Probably  the  most  delicate  professional  contacts  in  the 
ministry  are  those  of  men  associated  together  as  senior  and 
junior  colleagues  in  a  single  church.  In  a  Roman  Catholic 
or  a  Protestant  Episcopal  parish  it  is  common  for  the 
rector,  as  head  of  the  clergy  staff,  to  have  one  or  more 
curates  working  under  him.  There  is,  of  course,  occa¬ 
sional  friction  between  them,  but  the  rector  is  in  a  position 
of  recognized  authority.  The  curates  are  generally  young 
men,  who  will  soon  move  on  to  other  positions.  Further¬ 
more,  the  clergy  in  these  churches,  being  accustomed  to 
such  relationships,  know  how  to  adjust  them.  The  great 
secret  is  a  careful  division  of  labor,  entrusting  the  assistant 
with  full  responsibility  for  the  particular  task  assigned  him 
and  treating  him  as  a  partner. 

In  many  Protestant  churches  the  relationship  of  senior 
and  junior  ministers  works  badly.  The  trouble  comes  from 
the  fact  that  most  parishes  are  run  on  a  one-man  basis,  and 
do  not  seek  a  colleague  for  the  minister  until  the  latter  is 
advanced  in  years.  He  frequently  does  not  know  how  to 
make  use  of  the  younger  man,  he  may  be  jealous  of  him, 
knowing  that  the  younger  man  is  bound  to  increase  while 
he  must  decrease,  he  is  timid  about  new  ways  of  doing 
old  tasks,  suspicious  of  change,  and  often,  though  perhaps 
unintentionally,  inconsiderate  in  keeping  for  himself  a 
great  part  of  the  preaching,  which  he  enjoys,  while  expect¬ 
ing  the  younger  man  to  do  the  necessary  chores  for  an  in¬ 
definite  number  of  years.  Many  an  older  minister  is  very 
inconsiderate  in  this  matter  of  keeping  in  his  own  hands 
the  great  bulk  of  the  preaching,  allowing  the  junior  partner 
to  preach  only  on  occasions  when  the  congregation  is  likely 
to  be  small,  or  requesting  him  to  be  ready  to  preach  at  a 
moment’s  notice  in  case  the  senior  minister  does  not  happen 
to  feel  in  the  mood  for  preaching  when  the  hour  comes. 
The  senior  minister,  whether  he  have  an  assistant  or  an 
associate  minister,  should  give  his  colleague  a  fair  show  by 
leaving  him  free  to  work  out  his  own  methods  in  the  field 
assigned  him,  offering  suggestions  rather  than  orders  as  to 
procedure;  he  should  be  moderate  in  his  expectations  and 


ETHICS  OP  THE  MINISTERIAL  PROFESSION  167 


generous  in  his  appreciation ;  he  should  recognize  his  junior 
as  a  partner  in  a  common  enterprise  rather  than  as  a  sub¬ 
ordinate,  and  should  talk  over  his  own  plans  with  him,  so 
that  the  junior  partner  will  not  be  put  in  the  humiliating 
situation  of  learning  from  others  about  important  develop¬ 
ments  in  the  church  program. 

The  junior  associate  on  his  part  is  liable  to  be  bumptious 
and  impatient,  eager  to  introduce  innovations,  and,  in  his 
turn,  inconsiderate  of  his  senior  colleague’s  old-fashioned 
ways.  Friction  between  the  two  can  be  avoided  only  by 
mutual  sympathy  and  understanding,  but  the  chances  of  it 
will  be  much  diminished  if  a  division  of  duties  be,  at  the 
very  beginning,  clearly  defined,  and  thereafter  carefully 
adhered  to,  each  partner  being  fully  responsible  in  his  own 
field.  Such  division  should  include  a  fixed  apportionment 
of  the  preaching  appointments,  which  often  can  better  be 
made  by  the  governing  board  of  the  church  than  by  the 
senior  minister. 

Relations  with  predecessors  and  successors. 

Another  occasion  of  friction  and  heartburning  arises  out 
of  the  relationship  between  a  minister  and  his  predecessor 
or  successor.  A  minister  who  has  served  a  parish  for  years 
often  finds  it  very  hard  to  let  go,  even  if  he  realizes  that 
the  time  has  come  for  him  to  do  so.  It  is  hard  for  him  to 
move  out  of  the  rectory  or  parsonage  in  which  he  has  lived ; 
he  views  with  doubt  or  disapproval  the  changes  which  his 
successor  is  certain  to  introduce ;  and  he  is  liable  to  become 
a  center  of  criticism  very  embarrassing  for  the  new  man. 
Furthermore,  if  he  continues  to  live  in  the  community  his 
old  parishioners  are  certain  to  call  upon  him  for  many 
occasional  offices — christenings,  weddings,  and  funerals. 
The  minister  who  resigns  in  order  to  take  another  parish, 
usually  in  another  city,  avoids  these  causes  of  friction,  save 
the  last  mentioned.  If  he  is  called  back  to  his  old  church  for 
a  marriage  or  a  funeral  professional  courtesy  requires  him 
to  treat  his  successor  as  he  would  any  brother  minister  in 
another  church.  If  he  resigns  with  the  expectation  of  re¬ 
tiring  from  the  active  ministry  he  should  evacuate  the  par¬ 
sonage  when  his  resignation  takes  effect,  or  as  soon  there- 


168 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


after  as  possible,  if  illness  or  other  exceptional  circum¬ 
stance  makes  prompt  removal  impossible,  that  the  house 
may  be  made  ready  for  his  successor.  Thus  to  seek  a  new 
home  is  often  painful  to  an  old  man,  but  it  is  no  more  than 
just  to  his  successor.  If  he  desires  to  remain  in  the  com¬ 
munity  which  has  long  been  his  home  he  should  at  least 
remove  to  another  part  of  the  town,  and  it  is  a  good  plan 
for  him  to  absent  himself  on  some  prolonged  visit  while  his 
successor  is  establishing  himself.  In  any  case,  even  if  he 
retains  an  honorary  connection  with  the  church  as  pastor 
emeritus,  he  should  be  scrupulously  careful  to  support  his 
successor  in  every  way  possible,  to  keep  his  hands  off  the 
church,  to  refrain  from  criticism,  and  to  discourage  those 
of  his  former  parishioners  who  may  run  to  him  with 
complaints. 

The  newcomer,  on  his  part,  has  his  obligations  to  his 
predecessor.  He  should  not  be  hasty  in  introducing 
changes,  he  should  not  criticize  the  old-fashioned  ways  or 
the  obvious  failings  of  his  predecessor,  he  should  be  punc¬ 
tilious  in  courtesy  to  him.  He  must  be  generous  in  recog¬ 
nizing  the  affection  in  which  his  parishioners  hold  the 
older  man,  and  gladly  assent  to  their  calling  upon  him 
for  occasional  services.  If  the  retired  minister  continues 
to  live  in  town  and  it  pleases  him  to  take  part  in  the 
Sunday  services,  or  his  parishioners  to  have  him  do  so, 
the  newcomer  should  invite  his  predecessor  habitually  to 
take  some  part  in  the  service  of  worship  and  to  preach 
occasionally,  instead  of  leaving  him  to  sit  in  one  of  the 
pews. 

Labors  of  love. 

A  retired  minister,  or  one  occupying  some  official  posi¬ 
tion  which  does  not  include  a  regular  Sunday  engagement, 
is  often  called  upon  to  render  gratuitous  service,  the  so- 
called  “ labor  of  love.”  He  should  always  be  glad  to  do 
this  for  a  brother  minister  who  is  ill,  or  who  has  suffered 
bereavement,  or  who  for  some  other  good  reason  is  pre¬ 
vented  from  preaching.  The  visiting  minister  should 
take  no  fee  for  such  services,  though  he  is  entitled  to  his 
expenses,  and  to  such  entertainment  as  can  be  provided. 


ETHICS  OF  THE  MINISTERIAL  PROFESSION  169 


There  are  a  few  ministers  who  are  inclined  to  take  ad¬ 
vantage  of  the  good  nature  of  a  brother  minister  knowu  to 
be  free  to  render  such  services,  and  who  sometimes  sponge 
upon  him  when  they  only  want  to  take  a  Sunday  off,  or  to 
prolong  their  vacation  another  week.  Sometimes  a  parish 
will  also  try  to  get  free  preaching  by  calling  upon  such  a 
man  to  supply  its  pulpit  for  his  expenses,  or  for  less  than 
the  usual  fee.  Such  practices  are  clear  signs  of  lack  of 
self-respect  on  the  part  of  those  who  adopt  them,  and 
should  be  firmly  discouraged  when  discovered. 

On  the  other  hand  a  minister  so  situated  should  always 
be  ready  freely  to  serve  either  a  brother  minister  in  need 
or  weak  parishes  which  are  doing  all  they  can.  When  he 
preaches  as  a  supply  for  a  brother  minister  who  is  filling 
another  pulpit  he  is  entitled  to  the  fee  which  the  other 
receives,  due  allowance  being  made  for  the  traveling  ex¬ 
penses  of  both.  No  minister  should  ever  take  fees  for 
occasional  services,  such  as  christenings,  marriages  or 
funerals  in  the  family  of  another  minister,  though  he  may 
accept  his  expenses  if  necessary.  Such  “labors  of  love” 
are  but  the  due  and  fitting  expression  of  fraternal  courtesy. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  LIBERTY  OF  THE  PULPIT 

The  right  of  free  speech. 

It  was  stated  in  Chapter  II  that  the  minister  is  master 
of  his  own  pulpit,  with  the  right  to  speak  his  mind  therein, 
subject  only  to  the  limitation  that  he  may  not  preach 
contrary  to  the  accepted  tenets  of  his  church.  This  liberty 
of  the  pulpit  is  the  most  fundamental  of  all  the  minister’s 
rights,  but  of  necessity  it  carries  with  it  certain  obligations, 
and  it  sometimes  gives  rise  to  grave  problems.  It  is,  of 
course,  only  a  particular  aspect  of  the  general  rights  of 
freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of  the  press,  and  is  very 
close  akin  to  the  academic  freedom  of  the  teacher. 

The  right  of  free  speech  is  of  quite  modern  origin.  It 
necessarily  can  exist  only  in  very  limited  degree  under  an 
absolute  monarchy  or  in  a  church  of  highly  centralized 
authority.  Under  such  conditions  the  individual  who  ex¬ 
presses  opinions  on  any  important  topic  contrary  to  those 
of  the  governing  authority  will  speedily  be  suppressed, 
since  only  thus  can  absolutism  be  maintained.  The  history 
of  civil  government,  like  that  of  the  Christian  church,  is 
replete  with  illustrations  of  that  fact.  Even  in  seventeenth- 
century  England  the  government  undertook  to  regulate  the 
utterances  of  the  pulpit,  as  well  as  of  the  press.  The  clergy 
of  the  Established  Church  had  been  forbidden  in  Eliza¬ 
beth’s  reign  to  preach  sermons  of  their  own  handiwork  save 
by  special  license,  and  had  been  limited  to  reading  homilies 
issued  by  authority.1  The  practice  of  preaching  from 
manuscript  is  said  to  have  arisen  in  Puritan  circles  as  a 
defense  against  charges  of  seditious  preaching,  the  manu- 

1  Phillimore,  “Eecles.  Law,”  2d  ed.,  Yol.  I,  p.  786. 

170 


THE  LIBERTY  OF  THE  PULPIT 


171 


script  being  evidence  as  to  what  the  preacher  actually  said. 
Milton ’s  “Areopagitica”is  the  classic  defense  of  the  liberty 
of  the  press.  In  America  the  repressive  domination  of 
public  opinion  has  largely  replaced  earlier  forms  of  govern¬ 
mental  and  ecclesiastical  suppression,  but  during  and  since 
the  Great  War  there  has  been  a  marked  tendency  to  limit 
by  reactionary  legislation  both  freedom  of  speech  and  of 
teaching.  The  right  to  speak  in  his  own  mind  is,  however, 
one  of  the  fundamental  rights  of  the  free  man,  and  en¬ 
croachments  upon  it,  either  by  mob  sentiment  or  by  legis¬ 
lation,  should  be  strenuously  resisted. 

Freedom  of  speech  includes  the  right  to  criticize  the 
existing  social  order,  the  laws  upon  the  statute  books,  the 
present  form  of  government,  the  Constitution  itself,  which 
is  not  a  sacrosanct  revelation,  but  a  document  of  human 
construction,  open  to  improvement,  as  every  amendment 
thereto  implies.  The  fact  that  such  criticism  may  often 
be  foolish,  or  irritating  to  the  majority,  is  no  adequate 
excuse  for  silencing  it,  nor  are  its  authors  necessarily  unpa¬ 
triotic  or  “un-American.”  There  is  only  one  rightful 
limit  to  criticism  of  the  state.  Neither  the  preacher  nor 
anyone  else  may  violate  the  law  of  the  land,  nor  advocate 
its  violation,  without  falling  under  the  penalties  of  the  law. 
If  the  critic  honestly  believes  that  any  given  law  is  so 
iniquitous  that  he  cannot  in  good  conscience  obey  it  then  he 
must  be  prepared  for  conscience’  sake  to  suffer  the  conse¬ 
quences  of  disobedience,  in  the  hope  that  his  example  may 
help  to  bring  about  the  law’s  repeal.  But  to  penalize  him 
merely  for  the  expression  of  his  honest  opinion  is  to  violate 
the  sacred  and  hard-won  right  of  freedom  of  thought  and 
speech. 

For  the  minister,  in  particular,  the  liberty  of  the  pulpit 
is  of  the  utmost  importance.  Without  it  there  can  be  no 
free  inquiry  into  religion.  A  muzzled  ministry  will 
speedily  cease  to  attract  men  of  independence  and  char¬ 
acter.  The  influence  of  the  pulpit  is  based  upon  its  reputa¬ 
tion  for  disinterested  loyalty  to  truth,  and  can  only  be 
maintained  where  there  is1  both  freedom  and  fearless 
honesty.  No  minister  who  is  known  to  be  limited  to  a  paid 
advocacy  of  prescribed  views  can  exercise  any  strong  moral 


172 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


influence.  Therefore,  the  Protestant  minister  must  insist 
upon  his  liberty  in  the  pulpit  or  quit  his  ministry. 

The  limits  of  liberty. 

That  liberty,  however,  has  its  self-imposed  restrictions 
and  limitations  which  must  be  observed  if  it  is  to  be  exer¬ 
cised  with  any  satisfaction  to  the  preacher  or  advantage  to 
others.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  limited  by  consideration 
of  the  function  which  the  minister  is  asked  to  exercise, 
namely,  that  of  an  interpreter  of  religion.  Obviously  he  is 
not  free  to  advocate  immoral  or  illegal  practices — such  as 
polygamy,  or  the  exposure  of  unwanted  children  or  the 
chloroforming  of  the  aged  that  society  may  be  relieved  from 
the  burden  of  caring  for  them,  since  such  teachings  would 
be  incitements  to  illegal  acts  profoundly  offensive  to  the 
moral  and  religious  standards  of  his  congregation  and 
community,  and  are  not  a  part  of  that  religion  which  he  is 
expected  to  interpret. 

In  the  second  place,  he  is  not  free  to  advocate  doctrines 
contrary  to  the  accepted  tenets  of  the  church  of  which  he  is 
the  minister.  By  accepting  the  call  to  a  given  church  he 
has  indicated  his  general  sympathy  with  its  theological 
standards  and  put  himself  under  moral  obligations  not  to 
destroy  its  foundations  of  faith.2  He  may  not,  therefore, 
use  his  position  to  press  upon  his  people  views  which  will 
undermine  those  standards.  He  cannot,  for  example,  hon¬ 
orably  stand  in  an  Episcopal  church  as  an  advocate  of 
Unitarianism,  or  in  a  Unitarian  church  as  an  advocate  of  a 
non-theistic  ethical  culture,  or  in  a  Presbyterian  church  as 
advocate  of  the  sacrament arian  dogmas  of  Roman  Catholi¬ 
cism.  If  he  holds  views  thus  at  variance  with  the  doctrinal 
standards  of  his  church  he  should  leave  it  and  go  where 
he  belongs.  If,  for  reasons  of  personal  interest,  or  because 
of  a  determination  to  hold  his  position  as  a  convenient 
vantage  point  for  spreading  his  views,  he  declines  to  resign, 
both  law  and  custom  warrant  the  church  in  dismissing  him, 
after  its  charges  against  him  are  duly  proved.  Aside,  how¬ 
ever,  from  advocacy  of  immoral  or  illegal  doctrines,  or  of 
views  opposed  to  accepted  tenets  of  his  church,  the  church 

2  See  footnote  on  p.  18. 


THE  LIBERTY  OF  THE  PULPIT 


173 


cannot  legally  restrict  his  freedom,  dismiss  him,  lock  him 
out,  or  penalize  him  by  reducing  his  salary,  on  account  of 
anything  which  he  may  say  in  the  pulpit. 

The  rights  of  the  congregation. 

No  high-minded  minister,  however,  will  rest  content  with 
a  consideration  of  his  legal  right  alone.  He  will  remember 
that  his  congregation  also  have  their  rights.  The  church 
property  is  theirs,  not  his.  They  pay  his  salary,  in  return 
for  which  he  is  under  obligation  to  render  definite  services 
to  them.  When  they  come  to  the  common  worship  of  God 
they  have  a  right  to  a  message  from  him  which  shall  com¬ 
fort  distress,  or  enlighten  ignorance,  or  arouse  the  con¬ 
science,  or  move  the  sluggish  will.  The  preacher  ought  not 
to  cause  distress,  or  perplex  his  hearers,  or  wound  their 
sensibilities,  or  arouse  anger  and  resentment.  He  may  at 
times  be  under  the  necessity  of  rebuking  them,  but  he  must 
do  it  with  just  discrimination.  He  must  denounce  iniquity, 
but  he  must  remember  to  love  the  sinner  while  hating  the 
sin.  He  must  point  out  follies  of  which,  perhaps,  many  of 
his  flock  are  guilty,  but  he  will  always  cure  folly  better  by 
persuasion  to  wisdom  than  by  satire  and  invective.  In  a 
word,  he  must  always  remember  that  his  primary  duty  is 
to  minister  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  needs  of  his  flock. 

Political  and  social  'programs. 

The  minister  is  more  likely,  at  the  present  time,  to  find 
himself  in  difficulties  when  dealing  with  problems  of  politi¬ 
cal  and  social  reform  than  when  he  stirs  the  embers  of  a 
dying  theological  controversy.  That,  of  course,  is  no  new 
thing.  From  the  days  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  there  has 
never  been  a  time  when  the  conscientious  minister  has  not 
been  confronted  with  entrenched  social  wrongs  which  it 
was  his  duty  to  oppose.  In  the  two  decades  between  1840 
and  1860  many  ministers  in  the  north  found  themselves 
holding  anti-slavery  views  quite  at  variance  from  those  of 
their  congregations.  During  the  Great  War  some  ministers 
were  conscientious  pacifists,  and  many  others  today  hold 
theories  as  to  government  and  property  which  may  be 
shared  by  only  a  few  of  their  parishioners.  They  may  hold 


174 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


these  views  with  intense  conviction,  believing  that  vital 
moral  issues  are  involved,  upon  which  they  cannot  keep 
silence.  In  such  case  they  have  the  undoubted  right  to 
speak  their  convictions  from  the  pulpit,  fully  and  openly, 
whether  their  hearers  agree  with  them  or  no. 

It  is  generally  recognized  today  that  political  and  eco¬ 
nomic  issues  frequently  involve  ethical  problems  on  a  large 
scale  upon  which  the  preacher  cannot  keep  silent.  He 
cannot  limit  his  application  of  religion  to  matters  of  private 
morality  only,  but  must  consider  its  relation  to  the  whole 
sweep  of  our  modern  industrial  civilization.3  But  in  so 
doing  he  must  view  the  world  not  as  a  partisan,  nor  as  an 
advocate  of  any  particular  group,  but  as  one  “above  the 
struggle”  who  strives  with  clear  sight  and  unprejudiced 
mind  to  point  out  the  paths  which  lead  to  peace  and  honor, 
to  righteousness  and  truth.  He  must  remember  that  the 

8  ‘ ‘  Politics  have  been  separated  from  Christianity :  religious  men 
have  supposed  that  their  only  business  was  with  the  world  to  come: 
political  men  have  declared  that  the  present  world  is  governed  on 
entirely  different  principles  than  that.  But  politics  for  the  people 
cannot  be  separated  from  religion.  The  world  is  governed  by  God; 
this  is  the  rich  man’s  warning,  this  is  the  poor  man’s  comfort, 
this  is  the  real  hope  in  the  consideration  of  all  questions,  let  them 
be  as  hard  as  they  may:  this  is  the  hope  that  liberty,  fraternity, 
unity,  under  some  conditions  or  other,  are  intended  for  every  people 
under  heaven.”  F.  D.  Maurice. 

“He  must  preach  on  politics,  not  as  the  representative  of  a  party 
but  of  mankind,  and  report  not  the  mean  counsels  of  a  political 
economy,  which  consults  for  one  party  or  one  nation,  for  one  day 
alone,  but  declare  the  sublime  oracles  of  political  morality,  which 
looks  to  the  welfare  of  all  parties,  all  nations,  and  through  all 
time.  ...  I  know  some  men  say,  ‘religion  has  nothing  to  do 
with  politics,’  .  .  .  They  mean  morality  has  nothing  to  do  with 
politics;  that  is,  in  making  and  administering  the  laws,  no  con¬ 
sideration  is  to  be  had  of  charity,  truth,  justice,  or  common  hon¬ 
esty;  .  .  .  that  .  .  .  [the  minister]  should  never  preach  in  favor 
of  good  laws,  or  against  wicked  ones,  never  set  forth  the  great 
principles  of  morality  which  underlie  the  welfare  of  the  state,  nor 
point  out  measures  to  embody  and  apply  mere  principles,  and  never 
expose  the  false  principles  and  wicked  measures  which  would  lead 
the  community  to  ruin.  ’  ’  Theodore  Parker,  ‘  ‘  The  Function  of  a 
Teacher  of  Religion.”  See  also  Martineau,  “National  Duties  and 
other  Sermons  and  Addresses,  ’  ’  especially  the  sermons  on  ‘  ‘  The 
Grounds  of  National  Unity”  and  “The  Right  of  War”;  and 
Channing’s  discourses  on  “Slavery”  and  on  “War.” 


THE  LIBERTY  OF  THE  PULPIT 


175 


church  embraces  all  classes,  men  and  women  who  with 
entire  sincerity  take  very  diverse  points  of  view,  and  that 
his  business  is  to  understand  them  all,  to  lead  them  to 
understand  one  another,  to  interpret  to  them  the  law  of  life 
in  the  social  order. 

He  will  do  well  to  limit  such  topics  to  the  special  occa¬ 
sions  upon  which  such  themes  are  particularly  appropriate, 
such  as  national  holidays  like  Memorial  Day,  the  Fourth  of 
July,  Thanksgiving,  Forefathers’  Day,  Lincoln’s  Birthday, 
Washington’s  Birthday,  Labor  Day,  Peace  Sunday,  or 
the  Sunday  before  an  important  election.  These  occasions 
will  give  him  ample  opportunity  for  expounding  the  gen¬ 
eral  principles  of  civic  righteousness  and  social  justice. 

It  is  a  good  general  rule  that  the  preacher  should  deal 
with  political  and  economic  matters  in  the  pulpit  only  when 
they  involve  clear  moral  or  religious  issues,  as  distinguished 
from  questions  of  expediency  or  judgment.  His  criticism 
should  be  constructive  rather  than  merely  destructive;  he 
should  be  accurate  in  his  statements  of  fact,  not  basing  his 
discourse  upon  cheap  newspaper  gossip;  he  should  avoid 
all  censoriousness,  and  any  imputation  of  base  motives  to 
persons  with  whom  he  does  not  agree,  unless  he  is  in  posses¬ 
sion  of  such  information  as  would  enable  him  to  prove  his 
case  in  a  court  of  law.  He  should  always  bear  in  mind  that 
he  is  speaking  not  as  an  irresponsible  individual  but  in  a 
representative  capacity.  He  is  not  a  free-lance  lecturer, 
or  a  soap-box  orator,  but  the  spokesman  on  behalf  of  a 
body  of  worshipers.  In  the  eyes  of  the  world  he  represents 
his  congregation  and  is  supposed  to  be  speaking  their  views. 
Therefore  he  has  no  right  to  talk  loosely  or  foolishly,  but 
only  soberly,  discreetly,  and  in  the  fear  of  God.  Only  by 
so  doing  can  he  hold  or  exert  any  influence,  and  avoid 
doing  perhaps  irreparable  damage  to  the  reputation  of  his 
church. 

Again  he  should  remember  that  he  is  not  addressing  a 
debating  society  but  an  audience  which  cannot  make  imme¬ 
diate  reply.  It  is  related  that  when  Louis  XIY  asked  the 
Prince  de  Vendome  why  he  did  not  attend  the  court  serv¬ 
ices  the  latter  said,  “Sire,  I  cannot  go  to  hear  a  man  who 
says  whatever  he  pleases,  and  to  whom  no  one  has  the  lib- 


176 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


erty  of  replying.”  4  In  seventeenth-century  England  custom, 
indeed,  permitted  a  member  of  the  congregation  to  arise 
at  the  close  of  service  and  openly  discuss  with  the  preacher 
the  doctrine  presented  in  the  sermon,  a  practice  abundantly 
illustrated  in  George  Fox’s  “Journal.”  That  custom,  how¬ 
ever,  has  died  out,  and  now  the  only  course  open  to  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  church  who  have  heard  from  the  pulpit  views 
of  which  they  disapprove  is  to  remonstrate  privately  after¬ 
wards  with  the  minister,  to  put  their  opposing  views  in 
print  if  his  statements  have  been  given  newspaper  pub¬ 
licity,  or  to  remain  away  from  church.  The  modern  man 
is  likely  to  take  the  last  course.  Whether  he  does  or  not 
it  is  obviously  neither  magnanimous  nor  fair  for  the  min¬ 
ister  to  use  his  pulpit  as  a  platform  for  the  habitual  pro¬ 
mulgation  of  political  or  economic  theories  not  shared  by 
many  of  the  congregation.  It  is  his  right  to  make  his 
position  quite  clear  as  to  any  moral  issue  which  may  arise, 
but  his  right  is  limited  to  presenting  the  issue  as  fairly  as 
he  is  able  after  careful  study,  free  from  prejudice  and 
misstatement,  stating  his  conclusions  with  full  allowance 
for  the  possibility  of  error.  He  must  remember  that  many 
of  his  congregation  may  feel  as  strongly  upon  the  other  side 
of  the  question,  and  he  should  not  assume  that  those  who 
disagree  with  him  are  either  fools  or  knaves.  He  must  not 
bring  into  the  pulpit  half-baked  conclusions  and  snap 
judgments,  based  on  inadequate  or  partisan  information, 
on  economic  or  social  problems  about  which  even  the  best- 
informed  may  differ  widely.  What  angers  a  congregation 
is  a  dogmatic  laying  down  of  the  law  on  points  about  which 
the  minister  has  no  expert  knowledge.  Let  him  remember 
the  words  of  Cromwell,  “I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the 
mercies  of  Christ,  to  remember  that  it  is  possible  that  ye 
may  be  mistaken.” 

Finally  he  must  remember  that  in  any  case  political  and 
social  issues,  however  important  their  moral  bearings,  form 
only  a  part  of  his  message.  There  are  great  fields  of  human 
experience  which  no  social  reconstruction  will  ever  affect. 
The  sorrow  and  loneliness  of  bereavement,  the  bitterness 
of  disappointment  and  failure,  remorse  for  sin  and  the 

4  Hoyt,  ‘ 1 The  Work  of  Preaching,  ’  1  p.  235. 


THE  LIBERTY  OF  THE  PULPIT 


177 


reproach  of  conscience — these  are  tragedies  of  life  which 
have  nothing  to  do  with  economics.  Let  him  make  clear 
the  importance  of  a  sound  economic  and  social  foundation 
for  morality  and  religion,  let  him  deal  with  the  great  moral 
issues  of  his  day,  but  let  him  never  forget  that  the  preacher 
must  also  deal  constantly  with  other  and  higher  ranges  of 
human  life  and  experience. 

One  of  the  chief  reasons  why  ministers  find  themselves 
in  difficulties  with  their  congregations  is  that  they  do  for¬ 
get  this  obligation.  They  themselves  become  absorbed  in 
some  theory  of  the  social  order,  such  as  Socialism,  or  some 
particular  reform,  such  as  the  Single  tax,  and  they  neglect 
their  ministration  to  the  varied  human  needs  of  their 
people.  They  harp  upon  the  one  string  of  their  own  special 
interest,  they  twist  every  text  to  teach  their  favorite  doc¬ 
trine,  until  the  subject  gets  on  the  nerves  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion,  which  is  utterly  bored  or  exasperated  by  the  weekly 
reiteration  of  one  side  of  a  single  issue;  just  as  one’s 
nerves  may  be  set  on  edge  by  a  child  who  incessantly 
strums  on  a  piano  the  one  tune  which  he  knows.  Most 
congregations  are  willing  enough  to  let  the  minister  speak 
his  mind  on  subjects  upon  which  they  disagree  with  him, 
providing  he  does  so  only  occasionally,  and  for  the  rest 
deals  with  topics  in  which  they  are  interested  and  which 
give  them  the  nourishment  for  which  they  hunger. 

The  approach  to  controverted  topics. 

Some  ministers  invite  trouble  by  their  use  of  ‘  ‘  shock  tac¬ 
tics”  in  dealing  with  controversial  topics.  They  purposely 
overstate  their  case  in  a  startling,  aggressive,  uncompro¬ 
mising  way,  both  because  they  think  it  is  more  honest  to  do 
so,  and  because,  by  giving  the  congregation  a  shock,  they 
think  to  secure  a  measure  of  attention  which  would  not  be 
given  to  a  discourse  in  which  unwelcome  truths  were  cau¬ 
tiously  and  tactfully  set  forth.  Now  “shock  tactics”  may 
sometimes  be  justified  by  the  well-fed  somnolence  or  the 
complaisant  self-satisfaction  of  a  congregation,  but  if  often 
repeated  they  lose  their  effect  and  only  provoke  a  violept 
reaction.  Furthermore,  “shock  tactics”  generally  indicate 
that  the  preacher  expects  the  opposition  of  his  hearers, 


178 


THE  MINISTER  AND  HIS  PARISH 


whereas  the  preacher  should  always  assume  that  his  con¬ 
gregation  will  be  ready  to  accept  the  truth  which  he  pro¬ 
poses  to  expound.  In  the  long  run,  therefore,  better  results 
will  follow  from  an  irenic  presentation  of  his  message.  The 
minister  who  has  really  learned  the  art  of  preaching  can 
put  unwelcome  truths  in  a  way  which  will  be  persuasive 
instead  of  irritating. 

The  fact  of  the  case  is  that  what  makes  trouble  is  not  so 
often  what  a  man  says  as  the  way  he  says  it.  In  most 
Protestant  pulpits  a  man  is  free  to  say  almost  anything  he 
wants,  within  the  limits  of  reason  and  courtesy,  if  he  knows 
how  to  say  it,  and  he  may  do  so  without  being  one  whit  less 
honest  than  his  blundering  brother  who  is  trying  to  use 
the  blunt  instead  of  the  sharp  edge  of  his  ax  to  split  his 
wood.  It  is  not  a  question  of  honesty  nearly  so  much  as  of 
wisdom  and  of  a  sympathetic  understanding  of  the  feelings 
of  others.  The  way  to  succeed  in  dealing  with  controver¬ 
sial  topics  is  to  set  the  issue  against  the  background  of 
some  great  underlying  principle  of  religion,  leaving  the 
people  to  make  their  own  practical  application  of  the 
principle  to  the  matter  in  hand. 

The  attitude  of  the  parish. 

When  a  fundamental  disagreement  develops  between 
the  minister  and  his  parish,  growing  out  of  divergence  on 
political  or  sociological  views,  the  situation  may  become  so 
strained  that  the  continuance  of  the  pastoral  relationship 
becomes  inexpedient.  The  parish  should,  however,  be  very 
slow  to  ask  for  the  minister’s  resignation,  even  if  many 
people  think  the  best  interests  of  the  church  require  it. 
The  people  should  remember  that  very  often  such  questions 
are  of  temporary  duration.  The  divisive  issue  may  pres¬ 
ently  be  settled  by  legislation  or  by  the  growth  of  public 
sentiment.  In  any  case  such  an  issue  is  not  of  the  perma¬ 
nent  substance  of  the  gospel.  If  the  parish  will  patiently 
live  through  a  period  of  incompatibility  with  its  minister 
they  may  together  work  out  into  a  happier  understanding, 
just  as  a  married  couple  may  work  out  of  a  period  of  fric¬ 
tion  and  disagreement.  Furthermore,  where  there  is 
division  of  sentiment  within  the  parish,  it  is  highly  inexpe- 


THE  LIBERTY  OF  THE  PULPIT 


179 


dient  to  give  any  ground  for  the  charge  that  the  liberty  of 
the  pulpit  is  being  abridged.  The  dissatisfied  element  must 
remember  that  it  is  always  possible  that  the  minister  may 
be  right,  or  at  least  more  nearly  in  the  right  than  they  are. 
The  church  should  never  be  put  in  the  position  of  penal¬ 
izing  the  preacher  for  proclaiming  the  truth  fearlessly  and 
honestly.  Mutual  forbearance  and  good  will,  courtesy  and 
consideration  will  show  the  way  out  of  many  a  strained 
situation.  In  this,  as  in  all  things,  the  Christian  law  of 
love  should  be  the  sacred  bond  between  the  minister  of  the 
gospel  and  the  parish  which  he  serves — and  “where  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.’ ’ 


I 


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